What we found in the woods along Tecumseh road is a common ruin we encounter on our explorations of the Copper Country. Copper mining had grown far past it’s infancy by the time the lake mines began production, and the technology and methodology of copper mining had standardized across all mining companies. Hoists were the most important machine on the surface of a mine, responsible for hauling all the rock out of the ground as well as bringing men and materials down into the mine. While the sizes of hoists ( and the buildings they were housed in ) varied from mine to mine dependent upon how deep the mine went; the basic design and structure remained the same.

So how do you know a hoist building when you find one? Hoists consisted of two basic parts: a large drum on which a long length of hoisting rope was wound around; and a steam engine connected to that drum which was used to turn it. Because of this standardized design, any foundation we find that was used for a hoist would have to have accommodations for both of those components. Lets take a look at the foundation for what we think is the #5 hoist.

Here is the building we found. It consists of an outer wall of poor rock that surrounds a large brick foundation in the shape of an “H”. The “H” foundation most likely held up a large piece of machinery, due to its thickness as well as the multiple threaded metal rods that protruded from it. The rods would have been used to fasten a machine to the foundation, such as a steam engine. As for the drum, this is where the “H” shape comes into play. Any machine used to turn a drum would have to be connected to the drums axel, which would require a hallowed space below the machine for the drum to sit in. The “H” shape allows for this perfectly, the machine sitting on the “H” and the drum sitting snug between the two forward strokes of the “H”. Voila – a hoist building.

Still not convinced? Check this out:

This is a diagram of an actual hoist from roughly the same time period as the Osceoala mine ( late 19th century ). Specifically this is the original hoist for Quincy #2, which was replaced in the ‘30’s with the monster of a hoist seen today. We overlaid over the diagram the shape of the foundation necessary to support such a machine. As you can see – while not the exact shape as our hoist – it is a “H” shape, with the drum sitting between the forward strokes of the letter “H”. Looking at both diagrams it becomes clearer that what we found along Tecumseh was in fact, the hoist buildings for the mine.