As first built, the Isle Royale’s original surface plant consisted of a series of rather small wood-framed buildings set upon stone foundations. These buildings included a dry house, machine shop, blacksmith shop, and carpenter shop, each built to almost the same specifications. By 1917 this arrangement had become incapable of adequately meeting the needs of the growing mine. A new and more capable surface plant was required.

In response the Isle Royale built itself a massive fire-proof structure, home to the mines new machine and blacksmith shops as well as a rather large warehouse. The building was laid out in a “T” shape, with a steel sheathed warehouse forming the “T”s stem and a concrete block machine/blacksmith shop forming the top cross bar. It was a rather large and obtrusive structure with over 3600 square feet of space – more then enough for the mine’s needs.

That same building has managed to survive to this day, now used as storage for the Gundlach-Champion construction company. As original built, the concrete portion on the left would have housed the machine and blacksmith shops while the steel wing on the right would have been used for general storage.

What was once the main entrance to the machine shop is now topped by a modern sign denoting its more recent occupants. The door is built to this scale to allow large pieces of equipment to enter the building for repair or maintenance. I’m not sure if these doors are original, but I would doubt it. (They would be century year old doors by this time!) I love the mini-door set inside the left large door.

In addition to the large door openings, this side of the warehouse also features a few smaller windows as well, which of course have been sealed up now. The concrete headers and sills seem to be a throw-back to the region’s sandstone designs, but with a more modern flavor.

Next door along the warehouse wing we have a much different aesthetic sensibility, as this structure is sheathed in steel. Its front facade is embellished with a series of tall loading doors, which open out to a wide loading dock topped with a metal awning. Interestingly this loading dock is not fronted by a rail spur, it was instead intended for truck use.

Those large loading doors are absent along the warehouse wing’s backside, instead replaced by a series of large windows.

Speaking of large windows, here’s a few more as seen on the back side of the buildings concrete wing. This side of the building was home to the blacksmith shop, and was lined on both sides by these rather obnoxious openings. Of course they were later filled in with concrete block when it was discovered that natural light can cause cancer.

On the back corner of the blacksmith shop we find a short chimney plastered along the outer wall. I’m not sure if this was for the forge’s inside or just an exhaust path for a heater. It looks to be original to the building however.

Also visible in this photo is what looks like an old railroad loading door just to the right of the chimney. Turns out this is a later addition to the building, as it was originally served by a short rail spur entering a few opening down from here, closer to the center of the building. This was originally just another window. The brick patches along the openings edges are probably from when the old window’s sill was removed.

In this side view showcasing the building’s southern facade you can make out that original railroad door, set in the center. Its top has been filled in and the opening widened, but its the same door. The widening was probably done to accommodate the egress of large construction machinery.

And last but not least the buildings date plate. Like the loco house its also labeled as 1917, but this time it looks to be carved out of sandstone. Even more interestingly is the fact that this date plate is on what’s today the back side of the building, set above the blacksmith shop entrance. The reason for this probably has something to do with the fact that this side of the building faced the main IR rail line. The other side simply faced the road.

Its funny how priorities change over time…

In my rush to get this post up I forgot to include the map to help explain where all these buildings are located today. No wonder I was getting so many questions. Here’s the map…

Hope this helps…