Quincy Mine

The Quincy Mine was another iconic symbol of my childhood and student years at Michigan Tech. I don’t have reliable memories for how many times I passed the mine, but this photo was taken in 1959. It was in our slides and, every time we had a family slide show, the image would be further burned into my memory. When I heard that the Quincy Mine had opened for tours, I wanted to go there.

This is the No. 2 Shaft-Rockhouse. The #2 shaft was in operation from 1858-1931. This particular building was built in 1908 and is open for viewing.

The interior is pretty much as it was left with odds and ends all over the place. On the right is the car the miners used to enter and exit the mine - 30 miners at a time. On the left is a water car. The shaft was over 9000’ along the incline.

The last hoist house for the #2 shaft (adjacent to the old hoist building) was built in 1920 to house the huge new steam hoist. The Nordberg Steam Hoist was the world’s largest steam powered mine hoist engine. The building (and engine) was also a showpiece for the company and was quite elaborate inside with fancy tiling and brasswork. The steam hoist (minus most of the brass) remains in the building. The old hoist building now functions as a museum.

The Nordberg steam engine and hoist

This is a 17 ton mass of native copper found in Lake Superior. Big masses of copper weren't desirable because it took too much time to break it up into manageable pieces via hammer & chisel.

We finally got dressed (coats and hardhats provided) for the underground tour. The tunnel we would be taken in was not an actual mining area. It had started out as a water removal tunnel but was enlarged in the mid-1970s by the Michigan Tech mining department for use as an in-situ lab. Students would come over for both classroom and hands-on instruction in mining techniques. I don’t remember when (or why) the University abandoned it. Or maybe the guide never said. The lady who took this photo said it should be our Christmas card. Whad’ya think?

The “widow maker”. This pneumatic drill was introduced into the mines in the 1890’s and produced a large amount of rock dust which led to various lung diseases.

Oh, the old picture at the top is of the #8 rock-shafthouse. This building was demolished in the late ‘60s because it was dangerously deteriorated. Not surprising considering it’s condition in 1959. And no wonder I don’t recall it from my college years.