Quincy Mine

Infobox_nrhp | name =Quincy Mining Company Historic District
nrhp_type = nhld

---

caption = The #2 Shafthouse (left) and the Hoist House (right)
nearest_city= Hancock, Michigan
locmapin = Michigan
area =
architect= Quincy Mining Co.
architecture= No Style Listed
designated = February 10 1989cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2058&ResourceType=District
title=Quincy Mining Company Historic District |accessdate=2008-06-27|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = February 10, 1989
governing_body = Private
refnum=89001095cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The Quincy Mine is an extensive set of copper mines located near Hancock, Michigan. The mine was owned by the Quincy Mining Company and operated between 1846 and 1945, although some activities continued through the 1970s. The Quincy Mine was known as "Old Reliable," as the Quincy Mine Company paid a dividend to investors every year from 1868 through 1920. [B. S. Butler and W. S. Burbank (1929) "The copper deposits of Michigan", US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 144, p.75.]

Lifespan: 1846-1945

The Quincy Mine was founded in 1846 with significant investment from Massachusetts (the town of Quincy, Massachusetts lent the mine its name). While many other copper mines were founded at the same time, the Quincy Mine became the most successful of the 1840s-era mines, and was the country's leading copper producing mine from 1863-1867. [Horace J. Stevens (1909) "Copper Handbook", v.8, Houghton, Mich.: Horace Stevens, p.1149, 1457.] The mine was the first Michigan copper mine to switch from fissure mining to amygdaloid mining, when the recently discovered Pewabic amygdaloid lode was found to cross Quincy property. High-grade fissure veins contained large, pure masses of copper, but the masses could take days or even months to extract, at high cost. Amygdaloid mining consisted of extracting lower-grade strataform orebodies in the "amygdaloid zones," the upper portions of basalt lava flows. Rock bearing small pockets of copper could be blasted out immediately and processed elsewhere at much lower cost. Amygdaloid mining proved much more productive than fissure mining, and the size and richness of the Pewabic lode in particular allowed the Quincy to produce profits for 53 consecutive years. The Quincy company expanded laterally along the lode by buying out adjacent properties. The company bought the Pewabic mine in 1891, the Mesnard and the Pontiac in 1897, and the Franklin mine in 1908. [B. S. Butler and W. S. Burbank (1929) "The copper deposits of Michigan", US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 144, p.94.] This helped the mine survive longer than almost all other Keweenaw copper mining companies, except the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company and the Copper Range Company.

To attract a better class of worker, the Quincy Mining Company built and maintained housing for the workers. Over the course of operations, the types of housing ranged from simple tents in the early days, to complete three story houses shortly before the mine's shutdown. The executives on the east coast wanted to build more elaborate and fancy homes with amenities such as electricity and running water. However, the on-site managers didn't think it was necessary for the miners to have such high-class dwellings. But the east coast executives realized that if they offered nicer homes to the workers, the miners were more likely to stay, raise families, and be less likely to leave the area or transfer to another mining company. This strategy proved effective and helped the Quincy Mining Company retain its status as one of the premier mining companies in the region.

The Quincy Mining Company closed operations (but did not dissolve) in 1931 due to low copper prices. [ [http://crm.cr.nps.gov/archive/21-7/21-7-4.pdf National Park Service article on the Quincy Mining Company] (PDF)] During World War II, the mines re-opened due to increased copper demand. When the government stopped supporting copper prices after the war, the mines quickly closed for good.

The mine's engineering achievements

When the mine ceased production in 1945, the Quincy Number 2 shaft was the world's deepest shaft, at 9,260 feet (2.82 km or 1.75 miles) along the dip of the deposit. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_200011/ai_n10655175 Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula is a playground for snow bunnies, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal] (HTML)] To raise and lower ore and workers into this shaft, the world's largest steam-driven mine hoist was built in 1918 and housed in the Quincy Number 2 Hoist House. The Nordberg Steam Hoist and its reinforced concrete building, built in the Georgian architectural style with brick veneer and Italian-tiled walls, cost over $370,000 in 1918 but was used for only eleven years until it ceased usage in 1929. [ [http://www.nps.gov/kewe/historyculture/quincy-mine.htm Keweenaw National Historic Park Website for Quincy Mine] ] Weighing more than 880 tons, it lifted 10 tons of ore at 36.4 miles per hour, thus saving $16,080 in fuel bills in its first year of operation. [ [http://www.engineeringsights.org/SightDetail.asp?Sightid=452&id=MI&view=s&name=Michigan&page=1&
] ] The hoist sat on the largest concrete slab ever poured, containing 3200 cu. yards of cement and over 8 tons of reinforcement material. [http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5631.pdf] The Number 2 Hoist House was built as a reinforced concrete structure on a scale rare for 1918, making it one of the first of its kind [Yarborough, Ed. Personal Interview. 13 April 2007.] The very decorative Hoist House was used as a showpiece for visiting investors.

The mine today

The Quincy Mine is now a popular Keweenaw tourist attraction. The Quincy Mine Hoist Association maintains the buildings and grounds, and provides guided tours of the Number 2 Hoist House and the 7th level of the mine during the summer. There are museum-style exhibits within many buildings. The mine and surrounding areas are part of Keweenaw National Historical Park.

The Number 6 Shaft House (no longer standing) is often pictured in photographs as a picturesque example of shaft house architecture.

The shafts and stopes of the Quincy Mine have slowly filled with groundwater since the closing of the mine. The water has currently filled the mine up to the seventh level, making all lower levels inaccessible. The seventh level is drained by a large adit, which is also used for mine tours.

References

ee also

* Copper mining in Michigan
* Copper Country Strike of 1913-1914

External links

* [http://www.quincymine.com/ Quincy Mine Hoist Association]
* [http://www.mg.mtu.edu/mining/MINE_SHAFTS/qshaft4.jpgPhoto of the Number 2 Shaft House]
* [http://www.mg.mtu.edu/mining/MINE_SHAFTS/jr25qun6.jpgPhoto of the Number 6 Shaft House]
* [http://coppercountryexplorer.com/category/quincy-torch-lake-railroad/ Current Pictures of the Mine Ruins] At Copper Country Explorer
* [http://www.lib.mtu.edu/mtuarchives/ms001/ms001-intro.aspx The Quincy Mining Company Collection]