Champion Mill

We have often discussed the two faces of the Keweenaw. The difference between the west and east shores of the peninsula is almost as stark as night and day. The shoreline along the east side is relatively protected from the onslaught of the lake’s wind driven waves. There the shoreline gently slides into the lake, creating a gradual transition between land and sea. The west shore, however, is not so lucky.

The Champion Mill was the last. The Atlantic Mill was the first, built along the red cliffs at Redrige in 1895. Soon others followed. As the mines along the south range (south of Houghton) opened in increasing numbers, the need for processing facilities became urgent. And while the mines to the north concentrated their mill operations along the shores of Torch Lake, these southern mines did not have the luxury of such a large and deep body of water nearby. They would have to settle for a more distant shore to build their mills – the Lake Superior Shore.

After making our way off the beach an atop the short ridge backing it, we had found ourselves at the center of an expansive concrete floor. It stretched away from us in all directions, dropping off to the lake behind us backed by high concrete walls in front of us. Scattered across its surface were concrete monoliths of varying size and shape.

The Champion Mill, like any mill on the Keweenaw, works to separate copper from the rock that entombs it. First, copper rock is broken down into very small particles using stamps, then a series of machines work to separate the heavier copper from the much lighter rock. During out Mohawk Mill exploration, we took a detailed look at the process including the use of jigs and wifely tables. By the ruins we found at Champion, it became apparent that a few more machines were in use here that were absent at Mohawk.

Stamp mills required large amounts of water to operate, in the order of tens of millions of gallons a day. While some mills such as those at Redridge relied on dams to create large reservoirs to supply their water needs, mills such as Champion simply pumped the needed water out of the lake. This required a large pump, and a pump house to house it.

Exiting the pump house, we found ourselves facing a long line of concrete pillars stretching out ahead of us. There were three sets laid out in parallel rows. The first consisted of a single square base – not a pillar really – sitting about two feet high. The next line consisted of conical pillars about four feet high that looked like grey traffic cones. Next to them was a line of larger pillars that were longer in length but roughly the same width. And last – stepped down a level – were a series of much larger and taller structures more randomly placed with some sporting slanted tops. It was a sea of pillars.

Moving up a terrace from the rows of pillars discussed earlier, we find ourselves atop a series of short rock piles. These piles are of poor rock, and are scattered in numerous spots along the back wall to the mill. These rocks once were stored in bins that sat atop the concrete wall we now faced. The bins were most likely steel in construction, and were removed for scrap when the mill was demolished in the 60’s.

As we leave the Champion Mill, we take one last look at the monument that sits along with it – the smokestack. This is the first thing you see as you near the mill, and is one of your most obvious clues to this sites history. Like the Gay stack and countless other stacks that still inhabit the skylines of towns and villages in the Copper Country, it represents a dead industry and a lost way of life. Once spewing from its top the black smoke of progress, it now only casts shadows across the ruined decay of history.

With the winter months killing off most of the vegetation around the ruins we were able to get much better shots of a few highlights from our last trip. First is this panoramic look at the pump house ruins, which were hiding behind a veil of brush last time. This building housed the steam pump used to bring water up from the lake to the top of the stamp mill. The angled concrete platform on the right (barely visible below the snow) houses the feeder pipe from the lake.