As some of you may know there’s a birthday coming up at the end of this month – CCE’s birthday! My little exploration site turns a whopping 4 on July 31st, marking four years and over 600 daily posts of Copper Country exploration. To mark the upcoming milestone I thought I’d set aside the next four Friday’s to take a look back at all the work I’ve done here on CCE and link back to a few of my older posts. Each Friday will feature a set of five old posts from a specific year of CCE’s existence, starting this Friday with a look back at our first year – 2006.
CCE’s first year was rather dull. Readers were slim to non-existant, and my posts were of an equal quantity. Back then I was using a videocamera and often took far more video then I did stills. Most posts were only 2-3 photos long (compare that with my 10-12 photo average today) and there was only a few paragraphs of actual content to compliment those meager offerings. Explorations during this time were (in order of appearance) the Osceola, Q&TL RR, Redridge Dam, Gratiot, Mohawk Mill, Quincy Creek, Kingston, Calumet, Champion Mill, Copper Falls Mill, Mohawk, Hancock, Centennial, Houghton, North Kearsarge, North American, Ahmeek, Allouez, Hecla, South Kearsarge, Trimountain, Central, and the Champion (whew). My first commenters were from friends and coworkers, followed by a long string of complaints about my choice of text color. In fact most of my early emails were all about my bad design taste, with a few being rather rude about it. But an inquisitive reader wishing more info about the Centennial No.3 ruins (thanks Jay!) helped restore my faith in the world and kept me writing on.
“Ventilation” (Kingston Mine – November 2006)
Taking a walk around the old Kingston Mine reveals an interesting – and rather modern – piece of machinery just sitting out in the field. As usual during this time I hadn’t taken an adequate number of photos of the thing, so I had to draw up an illustration to compliment the post.
“Shaft Family Portrait” (Article – January 2007)
The Kingston series was my first time using photos from the wonderful Keweenaw Digital Archives site, and I would later take full advantage of my new tool with this posts about the evolution of shaft houses.
“A Look Inside” (Centennial – March 2007)
Easily the coolest find up to this point in CCE’s history was the discovery of the Centennial No.2′s compressor building – complete with the compressors themselves still intact inside. Those machines have since been removed, so its possible these are the last photos taken of them still in place.
“Railroads of the Copper Country: HCTC (Article – May 2007)
In May I embarked on a ambitious series of posts detailing the history of various railroads that once traversed the Keweenaw. Though I had lazily grouped the H&C and Mineral Range railroads together under the DSS&A moniker I’m still rather pleased with the finished results. Unfortunately they also happen to be the most spammed posts on my site, so I’ve had to close comments on a few.
“From Engine to Shaft” (S. Hecla – June 2007)
A trip down Mine Street revealed the remains of the South Hecla Mine, my first foray into the remains of the great C&H on CCE (in fact I have yet to feature the C&H mine itself yet on these pages, oddly enough). This interesting ruin was one of the coolest finds along that route.
Next week we’ll take a look back at Year Two of CCE, where the site begins to settle into its groove. Until then, we’ll continue our exploration along the old Delaware Mine, starting on Monday.
4 years?!?!? Wow, it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long. I’m glad your still hanging in there so the rest of us can also explore while not being able to actually visit the copper country on a regular basis.
It’s also a testament to the rich history of the CC that after 4 years there’s still fresh information on a regular basis and lots more to still see in the future.
BTW, I actually miss the black background and white text.
Thanks Mike!!!
Wow, I never even knew the site had such a rocky start, as I only discovered it about two years ago. What started as an inquisitive look into the history of my family’s hometown mine, the Mohawk, turned into a daily visit to one of the greatest Copper Country websites i’ve found thus far.
It’s a good thing you decided not to abandon the site; i’m sure we cant even begin to count the number of explorers and historians that have taken delight in CCE!
As I, and i think every one of the readers here, can conclude, we thank you Mike for a job well done over the past 4 years (well, two for me), and wish you many more years of happy writing to come!!!
So Mike, we need to talk about your choice of colors for text and backgrounds…
Oh, never mind.
Happy birthday!
Thanks Mike! Happy Birthday! I’m really looking forward to your work on the C&H.
In my opinion this is one of the most informative web sites about the Copper Countrty that I have seen. This site is always presents new information about the area. It is amazing the amount of ruins that still exist. Also the fact that you have done hard to access locations shows you are willing to go off the beaten track instead of taking the easy way out and doing easily accesible locations.
I would imagine the tough start was kind of discouraging. Much to you credit to stuck with it to build this excellent site. This shows your dedication to this area. This site is a labor of love.
I feel that the fact that your postings are open to additional information and questions shows your respect for the people who read them.
I have made a couple contributions to this sight and your acknowlegement meant a lot to me.
This site has brought a lot of people with smililar interests together at source of great information. I doubt if was not for your effort, that a web sight like this would have never been done.
I’ll add my congratulations for a job well done!
I’ve been trying to think back to how I found CCE, and how early in it’s history I got involved. A likely possibility would have been somebody at the Pasty Cam mentioning it, since I’ve been following that site regularly for some time. I do recall the early complaints about the site design, and the video posts, so I’m likely in the relatively early group, but probably not the earliest.
I do know that when Mike takes occasional posting breaks I tend to go into “CCE Withdrawal”. The time I spend at CCE and CCF always brighten my day, so here’s hoping the sites keep going for a good long time!
Dale – your first comment was in June of 07, but I’m sure you were checking out the site long before then.
Thanks everyone for the great compliments and well wishes. Now I know why I do these anniversary posts – to bath in the all the love from my readers!
Seriously, thank you to everyone of you no matter when you started supported the site. Its always appreciated!
I love you, man!!!!! Let’s go for 10!!!!
About a year since I discovered CCE and I always look forward to your daily posts! It sure is fun to be able take a virtual tour of copper country ruins from anywhere anytime! Keep up the great work!
I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at the comments that first year. In order of appearance, here’s a list of readers who were with me from the beginning (in terms of usernames that is, not real names)…
Matthew (10/06), Mike (11/06), Geoff (12/06), Don (12/06), Sean Gawne-Mark (1/07), Hoser (1/07), Jay (01/07), Joe Dase (01/07), Dave Freeze (1/07), Ray (1/07), Tom (1/07), Lynn (1/07), Alvin (2/07), Daniel Gless (2/07), Casey Coolich (3/07), Joe Pasconen (4/07), Bill (5/07), Ron Knudsen (5/07), Doug (5/07), Jay Balliet (5/07), Dale Beitz (6/07), Steve King (6/07), Chris (6/07), Nick Clark (6/07).
I’m not sure how many of you are still around, but there’s at least a half dozen from this list that have become an integral part of this website. I won’t name names because I’m sure you all know who you are.
Thanks again!
ok, now I am really depressed, I didn’t make the first year list. But then I am in the Keweenaw right now, so that does make up for it right now.
cheers to you, bro. i know ive been reading since 06, but didnt comment until later in 07, apparently…?
this site has come so far…its better than ever! keep it up!!
lol i remember the debates over background & text color, and the times you claimed you were going to close up shop on CCE…lol, youre such a drama queen, Mike, you know you can never quit this, ahahahah
Congratulations!
I was fairly early (but not on the list) but then had to leave for a long time because my old Mac’s browser could no longer display these webpages. But now a new updated browser has been developed so I’m back and glad of it.
Once addicted, a person can’t get enough of the Keweenaw and no mistake!