Quincy Dredge Number Two, Houghton County, MI
In the hayday of copper mining in the Keweenaw, copper was mined from the rocks with the use of stamp mills. The stamp mills would crush the brittle rock leaving the copper behind. The trailings (or stamp sands) left over from the mining were just dumped into the lake. As stamping technologies improved, these trailings could be further stamped to yield more copper. In 1913, the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company built the C&H Dredge number one. This was later sold to the Quincy Mining Company in 1951, and became known as the Quincy Dredge Number 2.
A few years after Quincy bought the dredge, their first dredge, Quincy Dredge Number 1 sunk in a storm. Dredge Number 2 was used until 1967. The Quincy Dredge Number 2 sits about 4/10 of a mile north of Mason on M-26 on the Keweenaw Peninsula, right across the street from the Quincy Mill. The dredge is half sunken in the water, and can be clearly viewed from the road. It is possible to enter the dredge too, but it is not recommended due to the excessive decay from sitting half sunked in the water for years. There are also legal issues, but there are not any "No Trespassing" signs to be seen in the vicinity.
In May of 2003, I made a trip out to the dredge, and took photos of both the interior and exterior. The interior is very enthralling and covered almost completely in grafetti. Photos of the dredge should be available here soon.
njp -- 22 September 2003
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