Copper Harbor, Michigan

Copper Harbor, Michigan
—  Unincorporated community  —
Looking east in downtown Copper Harbor
Copper Harbor, Michigan Location within the state of Michigan
Coordinates: 47°28′08″N 87°53′18″W / 47.46889°N 87.88833°W / 47.46889; -87.88833
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Keweenaw
Township	Grant Township
Area[1]
- Land	2.831 sq mi (7.3 km2)
Elevation	605 ft (184 m)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	49918
Area code(s)	906
FIPS code	26-18100[2]
Website	www.copperharbor.org/

Copper Harbor is a small unincorporated community in northeastern Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is within Grant Township on the Keweenaw Peninsula that juts from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan into Lake Superior.

History

The town's name alludes to the former use of its harbor as a port for shipping copper mined from local deposits during the mid-19th century.

The Pittsburgh and Boston Mining Company, formed by John Hays of Cleveland, Ohio, began operating in Copper Harbor in 1844. It was a small development at first, but its mine was modern for its time, and the company struck it rich in 1845. A few years later, the Central and other mines opened and became successful.^[3][4] By 1870, the copper resources had been largely worked out.^[5]

Mining activity no longer exists, and the town's harbor is mostly used for recreational purposes such as snowmobiling and for a ferry that connects Isle Royale National Park to northern Michigan.

Parks and recreation

The Copper Harbor Lighthouse is situated at the opening of the harbor. Nearby is Fort Wilkins Historic State Park, a restored 1844 frontier army base originally built to protect the port in the early years of the copper mining boom.

Transportation

The town is the northern terminus of US 41 and the eastern terminus of M-26. Both approaches to Copper Harbor, the shore-hugging M-26 from Eagle Harbor and the more inland, rugged US 41 offer dramatic views, as does the Brockway Mountain Drive overlook. Also, one can follow Manganese Road from the town's center to Manganese Falls and the Estivant Pines, among the oldest and tallest remaining strands of virgin white pines in Michigan.

A gift shop in Copper Harbor

Geography

Copper Harbor is at 47°28′08″N 87°53′18″W / 47.4687939°N 87.8884416°W / 47.4687939; -87.8884416Coordinates: 47°28′08″N 87°53′18″W / 47.4687939°N 87.8884416°W / 47.4687939; -87.8884416^[6]; this puts it further north than anywhere in the state of Michigan. The ZIP code is 49918 and the FIPS place code is 18100.

Climate

Climate data for Copper Harbor, Michigan
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F	46	55	66	83	89	94	99	94	95	80	67	65	99
Average high °F	24	27	35	47	60	68	75	74	66	54	39	29	49.8
Average low °F	10	10	19	30	39	47	55	56	49	39	28	17	33
Record low °F	−18	−22	−23	−2	16	32	42	38	30	21	3	−11	−23
Precipitation inches	2.87	1.56	2.00	2.05	2.81	2.86	2.70	2.72	3.14	2.71	3.10	2.53	31.05
Record high °C	8	13	19	28	32	34	37	34	35	27	19	18	37
Average high °C	−4	−3	2	8	16	20	24	23	19	12	4	−2	9.9
Average low °C	−12	−12	−7	−1	4	8	13	13	9	4	−2	−8	0.7
Record low °C	−28	−30	−31	−19	−9	0	6	3	−1	−6	−16	−24	−31
Precipitation mm	72.9	39.6	50.8	52.1	71.4	72.6	68.6	69.1	79.8	68.8	78.7	64.3	788.7
Source: weather.com [7]

Images

• 

  Looking west in downtown Copper Harbor

• 

  Sign on US 41

• 

  Welcome sign

• 

  A marker at the northern terminus of US 41 just east of Copper Harbor

See also

• Shipwrecks of the 1913 Great Lakes storm

References

1. ^ "Census 2000 ZCTA for MI49918". U.S. Census bureau. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/zcta5.txt. Retrieved 2008-05-01. "MI49918 5-Digit ZCTA land area = 2.831256 square miles" 
2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ Whittlesey, Charles (1852). 4000 Years of Copper Country History. Greenlee Printing Co.
4. ^ Mansfield, John Brandt (1899). History of the Great Lakes, p. 199. J. H. Beers & Co.
5. ^ Dunbar, Willis Frederick, & May, George S. (1995). Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State, p. 358. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
6. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Copper Harbor, Michigan. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
7. ^ "Monthly Averages for Copper Harbor, MI (49918) - weather.com". weather.com. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/49918. Retrieved 2008-05-01. 

External links

• Copper Harbor's Website
• Copper Country Explorer
• Copper Harbor Social Network
• Copper Harbor's Birding Festival
• Copper Harbor Biking and Hiking Trails