First formed to work the copper deposits in far flung Isle Royale, the mine of the same name would end up taking claim to a large tract of land atop the hill just south of Houghton. Originally opened in 1852, making it one of the earliest Portage area mines. But success would be hard to find for the struggling mine, and after sinking more then a half dozen shafts along its property the mine called it quits in 1882. A decade later the mine would be re-opened once again, but this time as part of a sprawling tract of land that encompassed over 3000 acres and the old Huron, Frue, and Dodge properties. The new mine was known as the Isle Royale Consolidated, an enterprise that concentrated its efforts on a much richer body of copper its previous incarnation had failed to discover – the Isle Royale Lode.

The new mine was massive, sinking a total of six shafts along the newly discovered lode. Along with its compliment of soaring steel rock houses and hoist buildings, the new mine also invested in its own short line railroad that connected the mine to its massive mill complex found down along the shore of Portage Lake near the mouth of the Pilgrim River. The mine took over the various small mine communities once belonging to its predecessors, including Dodgeville and Hurontown.

The Isle Royale would become a rather successful mine, operating for several decades along the ridge overlooking Houghton. It would close briefly during the Depression, but with C&H’s backing the mine would reopen again in 1932 and operate for another decade to help supply copper for the second world war. The mine would shut down for good just a few years after the war’s end, in 1949.

Click on an image below for more information.