The Central Mine, like the Cliff and Copper Falls, was a fissure mine. Unlike a typical copper lode that could run for miles and miles, a fissure deposit was very localized. These fissure deposits also didn’t behave typically, running perpendicular to the ridges of the Keweenaw instead of along them, and dropping straight down instead of along an angled strike. The fissure deposit at Central was massive, dropping some 30 levels (and over 3000 feet) straight down into the earth.

In order to mine this massive amount of copper the mine relied on a series of deep vertical shafts – 3 of them in total (with a fourth inclined shaft mixed in) – running down from the top of the ridge towards the East Branch of the Eagle River. One of those shafts can be found easily along Stagecoach Road, marked by a large sign. This is the Number Two shaft, all 3100 feet of her. While very little is left of her today, her legacy will endure for generations. For here ten miners lost there lives when their man car they were riding broke free from the hoist rope and tumbled down the shaft. On the left is a photo of the Number 2 and her hoist building behind taken some years after the mine closed.

Found in the Visitors Center at Central was this map, showing the original layout of the mine. The four shafts are connected via a tramroad which runs down the hill to the nearby stamp mill. The stamp mill is no longer standing, but its stamp stands can still be seen covering the banks of the Eagle River nearby. The complex of the Number 2 includes a hoist building, shafthouse, and a pump house. What still exits at that site today, however, is quite a bit less.

All that remains of the wood shaft house is a pile of poor rock, a large hole (below which lies the shaft), and a few scattered pieces like metal rods and this old hoist rope. Its frayed end seems ominous, but I’m sure this isn’t the same rope that cost ten men their lives.

A series of metal rods, indicative of a foundation to some sort of machine are mostly what we found here. These sit some distance from the shaft and might be part of the pump house instead of the shafthouse.

An amazing well preserved wooden post from either the shaft house or pump house sitting next to a metal rod. Amazing since this building is over 150 years old.

While the shaft itself held very little of interest, the large ruins sitting next to it was a different story. The walls belonged to a relatively intact ruin of this shaft’s hoist engine house, which we take in next…

to be continued…