Copper Harbor is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) located in

Keweenaw County Keweenaw County (, ; , ) is a county in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, the state's northernmost county. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 2,046, making it Michigan's least populous county. It is also the ...

in the U.S. state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. It is located within Grant Township. The population of the CDP was 136 as of the 2020 census. The community is located at the northern tip of the

Keweenaw Peninsula The Keweenaw Peninsula ( , sometimes locally ) is the northernmost part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, leading to its moniker of "Copper Country." As o ...

. Copper Harbor is also the northernmost permanently populated community and northernmost point of mainland in the state of Michigan. Due to its natural environment and surroundings, Copper Harbor is marketed as an all-season tourist destination and also contains

Fort Wilkins Historic State Park Fort Wilkins Historic State Park is a historical park operated by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources at Copper Harbor, Michigan. The park preserves the restored 1844 army military outpost, Fort Wilkins, which was placed on the National ...

History

Located at the very tip of the

Keweenaw peninsula The Keweenaw Peninsula ( , sometimes locally ) is the northernmost part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, leading to its moniker of "Copper Country." As o ...

, the

Copper Country The Copper Country is an area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States, including Keweenaw County, Michigan, Houghton, Baraga and Ontonagon counties as well as part of Marquette County. The area is so named as copper mining was ...

was home to the

Ojibwe people The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

prior to European settlement. In 1836, the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

was officially ceded from the Native American Chippewa to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

following the signing of the Treaty of Washington. The treaty was signed in the national capital,

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, by

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnology, ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native Americans in the United States, Native American cultures, as well as for his 1 ...

and Native American representatives from the Ojibwe and

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They ha ...

nations A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

. Copper Harbor was host to the first mineral land agency throughout the entire Lake Superior District. Captain Walter Cunningham was appointed by the

United States Department of War The United States Department of War, also called the War Department (and occasionally War Office in the early years), was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army, a ...

to act as a Special Agent to the area. As soon as wayfinding was established in the spring of 1843, Cunningham had come to the area and opened his office, which was thereafter named the "Government House". It was positioned on Porter's Island, a small rocky island just opposite of present-day downtown Copper Harbor. The Pittsburgh and Boston Copper Harbor Mining Company, formed by John Hayes of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, began excavating some pits near Haye's Point in Copper Harbor in 1844. It was a small development at first, but its

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

was modern for its time, and the company struck it rich in 1845. The Pittsburgh and Boston mine operations were some of the very first in the state of

. A few years later, the

Central Mine Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

Cliff Mine The Cliff mine was the first successful copper mine in the Copper Country of the state of Michigan in the United States. The mine is at the now-abandoned town of Clifton in Keweenaw County. Mining began in 1845, and the Cliff was the most pr ...

, and others were opened and became successful. However, by 1870 the copper resources in the community had been largely worked out. The community of Copper Harbor was listed as a newly-organized

for the 2010 census, meaning it now has officially defined boundaries and population statistics.

Etymology

The name of the community, Copper Harbor, alludes to the former use of its

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

as a port for shipping

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

mined from local deposits during the mid-19th century.

Transportation

Highways

* travels through Copper Harbor and has its northernmost terminus just east of the community. * has its northernmost terminus at U.S. Route 41 within the western portion of the community.

Ferry services

Copper Harbor contains a ferry port that provides transportation to

Isle Royale National Park Isle Royale National Park is an American national park consisting of Isle Royale – known as Minong to the native Ojibwe – along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan. ...

. The Isle Royale Line, Inc. (formerly named

Isle Royale Ferry Service The Isle Royale Line – previously Isle Royale Ferry Service – is a transportation service between Copper Harbor, Michigan and Isle Royale National Park. It is the successor of a series of ferry services between the Keewenaw Peninsula and Isle ...

) operates the ''

Isle Royale Queen IV ''Isle Royale Queen IV'' is a passenger ferry operating on Lake Superior between Copper Harbor, Michigan, and Isle Royale National Park, the largest island on Lake Superior and the State of Michigan's only national park. The ferry operates from ...

'' out of Copper Harbor during the warmer months from May to September. The ferry takes 3.5 hours to travel across Lake Superior to Rock Harbor.

Geography

In 2010, Copper Harbor was listed as a

, but this does not give the community any legal autonomy. The CDP contains a total area of , of which is land and (37.86%) is water. Copper Harbor is located at the northern edge of the

, although the peninsula extends for several miles to the east. Copper Harbor contains its own post office using the 49918 ZIP Code, which serves the small area surrounding the community. Some areas within the community and the surrounding area may use the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...

49950 ZIP Code. Beyond the community center, there are thick forests, no roadways, and no development. In relation to other communities in the Keweenaw, Copper Harbor is located from

Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still res ...

, north of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

, and east of

Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor may refer to several places in the United States: * Eagle Harbor, a development on Fleming Island, Florida * Eagle Harbor, Maryland, a town * Eagle Harbor, Michigan, an unincorporated community and census-designated place ** Eagle Har ...

. The village of Ahmeek is the nearest incorporated community at to the southwest.

Climate

Copper Harbor has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

. Summers are warm but rarely hot due to the moderating influence of Lake Superior, while winters are cold and snowy, albeit milder than areas on similar parallels to the west, due to the low-scale maritime moderation. Although winter temperatures are similar to those in the nearest large metropolitan city

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, a couple of degrees latitude south-west, the main difference is that April is also a winter month in Copper Harbor, since the marine effects delay spring. The temperature lag effect is so great that March holds the town's record low, and April's record low temperatures are not much warmer than those of December.

Notable attractions

*Hunter's Point is the name of a non-hilly point, running out from the west into

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

. It was named for an early settler of the area named Hunter who owned a tract of land on what is now Hunter's Point. He is buried in the Fort Wilkins Cemetery. Today, Hunter's Island is a Grant Township park, hosting a wide variety of both

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

alike. It is also a well-known stop for migratory birds. *Just outside the town is the sign marking the end of U.S. Highway 41, which begins in Copper Harbor and ends in the city of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, nearly 2,000 miles away. * Just north of downtown Copper Harbor is the

, an early restored frontier

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

base originally built in 1844 to protect the vital port of Copper Harbor from the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

during the early years of the copper mining boom, America's first great mining rush. It became clear later that issues in the region were their own—rough and icy winters, isolation, and sheer loneliness. Copper Harbor School 2020-08-31

*The Copper Harbor Schoolhouse, one of the oldest one-room schools in

, is found here. In 1999, this 140-year-old school had nine students who attended classes. The school district it lies in is called Grant Township Schools, District No. 2. The District motto is "Searching For Knowledge" and the mascot of the schoolhouse is the Copper Harbor Prospectors. *Copper Harbor is home to a Fourth of July

fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...

show that is locally notable on the

. *

Lake Fanny Hooe Lake Fanny Hooe is a lake in Keweenaw County, Michigan. The Garden Brook connects Lake Fanny Hooe to Lake Superior, to the north. The community of Copper Harbor lies to the north west side of the lake. Home to a U.S. Army fort built in 1844, F ...

, named after the mining Captain William Albutrtis' juvenile sister-in-law, borders Fort Wilkins and is well-known in the area for the origin of its name. This lake is one mile east of Copper Harbor, and runs parallel with the highway M-26. The lake is two miles long and a quarter mile wide, with a total depth of thirty-five feet and numerous points. * The historic

Copper Harbor Lighthouse The Copper Harbor Light is a lighthouse located in the harbor of Copper Harbor, Michigan USA on the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan inside Fort Wilkins Historic State Park. It is a Michigan State Historic Site and listed on the National ...

is situated at the opening of the physical harbor itself. The

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

was rebuilt in 1866, replacing an original light from 1849, and is only accessible via a short ride in a compact, open vessel from the Copper Harbor Marina. Taken out of service in 1933, the historic navigational aid is one of the oldest lighthouses on

. Within the yellow-bricked maritime post, furnishings from the era remain to conceptualize the life of the lighthouse keepers. Exhibits in the lighthouse museum cover both the lighthouse's history and the local shipwreck culture of the area. *The historic Copper Harbor Cemetery discloses the gravestones of some of the earliest settlers in the

, with the first recorded interment in 1853 and a number of other tombstones that predate the year 1900. *Characterized as "the most beautiful road in

Brockway Mountain Drive Brockway Mountain Drive is an scenic roadway just west of Copper Harbor in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States. Drivers can access the road from State Highway M-26 on either end near Eagle Harbor to the west or Copper Harbo ...

is a roadway that follows the spine of a ridge between the communities of Copper Harbor and

, and it is the highest-paved road between the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

to the west and the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

in the east. The notoriously picturesque road was constructed during the 1930s in the midst of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. It offers views of Lake Superior, and the Keweenaw Peninsula, as well the archipelago of

Isle Royale Isle Royale National Park is an American national park consisting of Isle Royale – known as Minong to the native Ojibwe – along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan ...

on an especially clear, transparent day. There is also a close on the drive called Brockway Mountain Lookout that offers a view of the community of Copper Harbor itself. *In addition to the main 1849 Copper Harbor Lighthouse, the Copper Harbor Front Range and Rear Range Lights, both completed in 1869, remain and are locally considered to be iconic, as well as being the subject of

memorabilia A souvenir (), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and transported home by the traveler as a m ...

. The purpose of the Copper Harbor Range Lights was to do what the main lighthouse could not; it guided vessels and their sailors past the hazardous reefs on either side of the waterway.

Demographics

Images

File:CopperHarborMichiganDowntown2US41.jpg, US 41 through Copper Harbor File:CopperHarborMichiganSignUS41.jpg, Signage along US 41 File:CopperHarborWelcomeSignUS41.jpg, Copper Harbor welcome sign File:End of US 41.JPG, Northern terminus of US 41, October 2006

References

External links

Official community of Copper Harbor website

Copper Country ExplorerCopper Harbor biking and hiking trails
showing a STEVE ( Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement) in the night sky - similar to aurora and often accompanying a green picket-fence aurora {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Keweenaw County, Michigan Houghton micropolitan area, Michigan Coastal resorts in Michigan Michigan populated places on Lake Superior Populated places established in 1844 1844 establishments in Michigan Unincorporated communities in Michigan Census-designated places in Michigan Census-designated places in Keweenaw County, Michigan