Keweenaw Time Traveler
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Deep Mapping Institute: 2025
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We travel to Calumet, MI for today's #MapYourHistory story.
"The C&H Drill Shop was built in 1885 from discarded, low-copper-content basalt known as “poor rock,” as a place for sharpening and repairing mining drills. Vacated in 1968, the Copper Country Curling Club inherited the use of this cold, rough building in 2005. Today, the Club is proud to host what is surely the most environmentally-friendly regulation ice in the United States! There is no mechanical cooling required, thanks to the amazing thermal mass of the thick rock walls that buffers against even several days of midwinter thaw. This clever reuse leverages the robust and raw construction of this historic industrial building to wonderful advantage, and works to keep another beautiful piece of the area’s rich industrial heritage intact and in use!"
--John Arnold, jdarnold@mtu.edu
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"Frigid Fairy Tales" and Keweenaw air travel combine in this #MapYourHistory story.
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In 1973, Michigan Tech had a unique arrangement with a university in Texas. The Daily Mining Gazette covered the story and captioned the photo (left) as follows:

“A shipment of 500 pounds of official Copper Country snow is sent [via the Houghton County Memorial Airport] to the students of Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos as part of the Michigan Tech Winter Carnival. The southerners look forward to its arrival each year for an all-out snowball fight in the Texas sun.”

Soon, Michigan Tech students past and present will be able to share their air travel memories though the #KeweenawTimeTraveler. Not a Tech student or alum? No problem! Anyone can join in and #MapYourHistory.

NOTE: For more historic photos like this one, you can visit Copper Country Historical Images
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In this #MapYourHistory story, we feature a lucky discovery made by one of our team.
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"While working as a Keweenaw Time Traveler mapping people to their houses in the year 1917, I came across a man named William Hodgson who had no address listed in the city directory. Wanting to find his house, I looked him up the 1920 United States Census. I found a man named William A Hodgson who lived in Houghton in 1920. I wasn’t sure if this was the same person, but I decided to look for his house on the map anyway. When I checked the map, I found a house at the address listed on the census, and right next to it was 'Hodgson Wm' written in pencil! It just goes to show how much information can be found on these maps."
​--Rose Hildebrandt
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For our next #MapYourHistory story, we move to the Houghton County Courthouse
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"Usually we admire the front facade of the Houghton County Courthouse. But this glass-plate negative from c.1905 in the Library of Congress shows us all the life happening behind it. There’s a wooden house in the back lot where someone has hung out a quilt to dry in the sun. Chickens wander around in the back yard below the barred windows that supply light into the county jail. On later maps you can see that the wooden house in the back corner became a Juvenile Court and Detention Home. You can explore this photo at the Library of Congress here: https://www.loc.gov/resource/det.4a07024/"
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--Sarah Fayen Scarlett, sfscarle@mtu.edu
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As we continue the countdown to our June 15th launch, here is another #MapYourHistory story:
"As a recent transplant to the Keweenaw, I’m always looking for opportunities to get involved in local events. In March 2017, I volunteered at the start of the Copperdog 150 race in Calumet. I only managed to get a few photos before the cold drained my phone battery! It was wonderful to see historic 5th Street transformed into a snow road for the sleds and I was inspired by the energy and excitement from the dogs.
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Through my work with the Keweenaw Time Traveler project, I came to learn that the parking lot that served as a staging area for the racers was once home to a beautiful building-- the YMCA. This juxtaposition reminds me of the importance of historic preservation-- by continuing traditions like dog sled races, and by protecting historical buildings, we enrich our daily lives and leave a legacy for future generations to enjoy."
--Mollie Doerner
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​Are you ready to Map Your History? We are! For the next few weeks we will be posting some of our favorite stories about the people and places of the Keweenaw. Keweenaw Time Traveler launches June 15th!
"I ride my bike across Cole’s Creek pretty often, but I never stopped to think about how different it was a hundred years ago. This photo I found in the MTU archives is of the Michigan Smelter that was right next to Cole’s Creek in 1914. Imagine: tough mine workers braving the harsh Houghton winter in the country’s northern frontier. The trains would have arrived on the upper rail line above the factory, letting the ore drop through chutes using gravity, feeding huge furnaces. The train on the lower line departed regularly piled high with massive copper ingots. It was a sprawling high-tech operation… but today I can ride past without even noticing it!" - Luke Weidner
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The Keweenaw Time Traveler is almost ready for you! 
Be among the first to see it in action. Join us for a brief introduction and then work one-on-one with our team members and learn to map your history! 
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We had a great turn out at the Lake Superior Celebration last night. Thanks to the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative for inviting us. All of your feedback  is helping us prepare to launch the Time Traveler in June. See you next time!

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