Keweenaw Peninsula Museums

There are a number of museums in the Upper/Keweenaw Peninsula and having spent about three weeks in the area I think Sandee and I visited all of them. While most of these museums are dedicated to the local history of their little part of the area, rest assured for the rockhound in us all you will see plenty of Lake Superior Agates, datolite, copper and a whole host of other specimens.

Starting in Ontonagon, MI you have the Ontonagon Museum located on the main street, which is about two blocks from the Gitche Gumee Landing rock shop.  This museum is loaded with local artifacts and rocks, Lake Superior agates to be precise and Petoskey Stones.  There is a small admission price, but that is what they use to keep the place going. It is well worth the price just to see those Lakes.

Next up is Coppertown Mining Museum in the town of Calumet, MI.  This museum combined with the National Park museum about a half a block way will give you all the history of Copper Mining in the Keweenaw area.  While there are not many specimens to view, anyone interested in mining these two sites are a must visit. The story told at these two sites cover not only the mining details of the miner, but the everyday life of the families of those miners.

Eagle Harbor museum in Eagle Harbor is a small museum dedicated to those who maintained the lighthouses in the area.  This may not be all that interesting to some, for those so inclined there are Lake Superior agates to stare at and buy.

But the one museum that MUST be on the rockhound list to visit is by far the best of the entire Keweenaw Peninsula, the A.E. Seaman's Museum on the campus of Michigan Tech. University in Houghton, MI.  You name a mineral/rock and you will find it here.  The number of copper specimens here is overwhelming, these babies come in all shapes and sizes. This is also where my rockhounding blood began to take root. They have a fluorescent mineral collections that got me started collecting.    Sandee and I spent the entire day in this museum and we would go again if we are every in the area.

  There are many other museums in the area not dedicated to minerals such as the U.P. Fireman's Memorial where there is a collection of old fire trucks, the Calumet Theater and Saint Ann's Church all located in Calumet, MI.  It is easy to see how one can get lost in the history, culture and mining of this area. The three weeks we spent here gave us a small taste and we could have easily spent the entire month but we had those lakers to pursue.

                                                             Ontonagon Museum Lakers 

 

                                                                Petoskey Stone

                                                            Datolite Catalonia Mine

 

                                                      Float Copper, Coppertown Museum

                                                      9130 lb Float Copper, Calumet, MI

                                                 Datolite, National Park Museum, Calumet, MI

 

                                                  Eagle Harbor Museum, Lake Superior Agate

                                            

 

                                             Float Copper, A. E. Seaman's

                                                         Float Copper, A.E. Seaman's

                                                                 Calumet Theater, Calumet, MI

                                                     Fireman's Memorial Museum, Calumet, MI