While I may have the most exposure and attention due to the presence of this site, I am by far not the only person who has a compelling interest in exploring and documenting the remnants of the Copper Country’s rich heritage. One only has to read the types of comments that are posted here to understand that. But I have always been amazed by how far and wide such interest has spread throughout the country, to a surprisingly large group of people that all share a connection to this place and its past. Today we feature one of those fellow explorers, one we have featured several times before here on CCE actually. For some of you the drawing that opens this post is a quick clue to who that person is, as he is probably most famous in these parts for his incredibly detailed illustrations of Copper Country ruins and cross sections of mining structures. It turns out, however, that the man is not only a great illustrator, but a great researcher and writer as well.
The man in question is Ian Tomashik who brings us today a rather detailed and extensive report on the Hancock Mine, an operation that once encompassed a great deal of real-estate within the city limits of Hancock itself. Ian has not only explored the ruins of this old mine, but has also researched its origins, operations, and technical specifications to bring us an incredibly detailed 80 page report that I’ve now put up on the scrapbook for perusal. Not only does the report dig deep into the how and why of the Hancock Mine’s ruin-scape, but it also showcases a great number of amazing illustrations and cross sections, like the great boiler house view seen above. It’s great work and worth the read. Head over to the scrapbook to check it out…
Download the complete report Here.
(note: due to the large size of the attached file, I request that my readers limit downloads to only one per person and then save it to your computer. Thank you)
I was just poking around that place last week (when the weather was good) wondering what was all going on there. Its one of those locations you forget about cuz its right there, in the open, easy to bypass on the way to sites in the woods.
What was this written for? A class or for fun? Who is this dude? We could use a guy like this in MTU’s Industrial Archaeology program.
Wow! That is all.
Maybe Ian should have this done in booklet form for people like me that keep things on a shelf not a computor. Maybe next time I am UP it will be in the QMHA gift shop.
That is probably one of the earliest double drums in Michigan. An excellent article, they set that thing up to haul allot of Muck!
smg, I just wrote this pretty much for fun; I just decided to post it on CCE because, I figured, it wasn’t doing any good just sitting on my computer. That’s what historical research is for… sharing. Anyways, that sounds like an awesome program! But I have my mind set on architecture for now… I’ll remember to visit MTU when I go up there this summer though.
Allen, I would have done so if I had the means, but I’m too far from the UP to have much communication with Quincy here… excellent idea though!
Thanks for the comments though everyone!
I figured architect. We’ve got a few people (myself to a certain extent) up here interested in isometric drawings of stamp mills here and in Alaska as well as drawings using 3D and GIS software. Our program is currently documenting the Champion mill at Freda and this will take a few years. The problem here is we are not trained in CAD and 3D drawing. We have to pick it up on our own and that can be difficult with a busy schedule of reading and lecture.
Myself and some other recent grads are really impressed with your work here and wanted to know who you were.
Anyway, I invite you to come up and visit the program this summer as well as our field school out at the Cliff mine. Mike and a few others on here have come up in the past and another explorer is always welcome.