C&H Mills

Agassiz’s first job as the Calumet mine’s new manager was the erection of a stamp mill, a task his predecessor had failed to complete. Around 1867 a new mill was built along the shores of a newly formed lake at the north end of the Calumet property – a lake known as Calumet Dam. One of the first structures erected on the site was a large sandstone clad pump house and companion boiler house – seen in the old photo above. While the old pump house is no longer standing, its boiler house has managed to survive to this day.

Agassiz’s first job was the creation of a reservoir of sufficient size to supply the mill with all its water needs, known today as Calumet Dam. His second job was the erection of a pump house to deliver all that water to the new mill. Those pumps required steam to operate, steam that was produced by a series of boilers in the adjacent boiler house. Those boilers, in turn, required a steady supply of coal to operate. Coal that was delivered by means of an elevated tramway which ran directly through the boiler house itself. A trestle that can still be seen today, as evident in the photo above.

The Calumet Dam waterworks consisted of two buildings – both remnants from the old Calumet Mill. The Pump House itself was a large two and a half story sandstone behemoth which housed two steam powered pumps to bring up water from the lake. Next door was the old boiler house, consisting of three boilers and a series of coal bins along its back wall. An elevated rail line made its way through the back of the boiler house for the deliver of coal.

The first Calumet Dam was built by beavers, which had created a small pond to the north of Red Jacket years before the Calumet Mine arrived to the scene. When the fledging mine looked to build its first stamp mill this small impoundment became the obvious choice due to its close proximity to the mine and its ample supply of water. Unfortunately, the man in charge of the Calumet Mine at this time – Hulbert – failed to improve this dam in any significant way. It wasn’t until Agassiz took over the mine in 1867 that the first satisfactory dam was installed across Slaughterhouse Creek and the reservoir we know today as Calumet Lake was born.