Phoenix 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 ...
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
. Phoenix lies at the junction of
M-26 and
US 41
U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, ...
, about two miles south of
Eagle River, Michigan
Eagle River is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Keweenaw County. Its population was 65 at the 2020 census, which makes it by far the least-populated county sea ...
, near the shores of
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 ...
.
Copper
Phoenix was the site of the Phoenix Mine, one of the earliest
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 ...
mines in the
Keweenaw Peninsula. The Phoenix Copper Mining Company's predecessor, the Lake Superior Copper Company, was the first active copper mine in 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 w ...
, established in the early 1840s. The various shafts were worked for years, but never successfully.
Phoenix today
Few buildings remain. The Phoenix Store is the only functioning business in Phoenix, selling pop, beer, snacks, candy, toiletries and historical books about the area. There are two bars about a mile southwest of Phoenix along US-41. The Bammert Blacksmith Shop and the Church of the Assumption are two buildings dating back to the 1800s and are run by the Keweenaw County Historical Society.
References
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Unincorporated communities in Keweenaw County, Michigan
Unincorporated communities in Michigan
Populated places established in 1842
1842 establishments in Michigan