Eagle River in Keweenaw County, Michigan — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Joseph Blight, Sr.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 2, 2017

1. Joseph Blight, Sr. Marker

Inscription. In memory of
Joseph Blight, Sr.

founder of the
Original Lake Superior
Safety Fuse Co.

Established in 1862 at
Eagle River, Michigan
Erected 1938

Erected 1938.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Industry & Commerce. A significant historical year for this entry is 1862.

Location. 47° 24.74′ N, 88° 17.786′ W. Marker is in Eagle River, Michigan, in Keweenaw County. It can be reached from the intersection of 4th Street and State Highway 26, on the left when traveling west. Marker is located on the walking trail at Eagle River Falls & Dam. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5055 Michigan Highway 26, Mohawk MI 49950, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

and in Copper Country.

It is also in the American Midwest,

on the Great Lakes,

and on Lake Superior’s South Shore Region.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Great North Woods,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other

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markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Douglass Houghton (within shouting distance of this marker); Lake Shore Drive Bridge / Eagle River (within shouting distance of this marker); Main Street Bridge Project (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); a different marker also named Douglass Houghton (approx. 0.2 miles away); Eagle River (approx. 0.2 miles away); New Snowfall Record 390.4 Inches (approx. 3.7 miles away); Sand Hills Lighthouse (approx. 3.7 miles away); Lake Superior (approx. 4.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Eagle River.

Also see . . . Lake Superior Safety Fuse Company. In the 1840's, a young Cornish girl by the name of Mary Ann Terrill worked for Bickford-Smith Safety Fuse Company, which was then located in Camborne, England. Mary Ann married Joseph Blight and they moved to the Lake Superior mining district in 1852. Joseph Blight met Thomas Dunstan, who along with the advice and direction of Joseph’s experienced fuse-making wife Mary, spent the next three years developing a fuse-making machine. Californian Richard Uren provided the capital to

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 2, 2017

2. Joseph Blight, Sr. Marker

(Eagle River Falls in background)

file for United States Patent No. 37,079 for fuse design, December 2, 1862. Later that month, an obscure company called the Lake Superior Safety Fuse Company was started at the waterfalls of Eagle River, Michigan, then the center of Michigan's copper mining industry. (Submitted on July 14, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 14, 2020. It was originally submitted on July 13, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 502 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 14, 2020, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.