Copper Range Railroad Depot 1899

Copper Range Railroad Depot 1899. Historic Houghton. The Copper Range Company was a fully integrated industrial enterprise, operating the Champion, Baltic and Trimountain copper mines south of Houghton, a number of milling facilities, and a large smelting works along Portage Lake. It was a late starter in the Keweenaw copper district, however, organized only in January 1899. Copper Range was also unusual in that its first venture was construction of the Copper Range Railroad, the vital link between its dispersed operations. The railway was unlike most mining company railways in that it also hauled freight for other companies and operated an active passenger service., The company developed a multipurpose waterfront operation in Houghton. Along this half-mile stretch of Portage Lake, the company located its roundhouse and car repair facility, full-service dock, freight house and car yard. Once the facilities were completed in 1900, Copper Range could distribute supplies arriving from ships along the Portage and fill the same ships with finished copper ingots from the company smelter., The railroad's administrative headquarters were based in the main Houghton passenger depot. Completed in 1899, the building was designed by Copper Range's chief engineer, Thomas Appleton, and built by Pendergast and Clarkson of Chicago. Much more elegant than any of the company's other depots, the building cost over $10,000 to construct., The two-story brick building includes accents of red Jacobsville sandstone. The ground floor had a ticket office, baggage room, and separate ladies' and men's waiting rooms, while offices and storage space occupied the second floor. The depot's north side featured a 400-foot long wooden platform, sheltered by an overhanging roof., Nearly 20,000 cubic feet of rock were removed from the hillside to make room for the depot. At one time, a stairway descending the hillside allowed easy access to the station for residents of West Houghton., Although the Copper Range Railroad eliminated passenger service in the 1920s, copper ore and other freight kept the line in business for several more decades. The last train made its way from McKeever junction in Ontonagon to the roundhouse at Houghton on November 3, 1972. . This historical marker was erected by Michigan Coastal Management Program, MDEQ. It is in Houghton in Houghton County Michigan