Anatomy of a Steel Dam (p3)
As you progress along the foundation of the Redridge Dam, you drop level after level via a series of concrete staircases built into the floor. It’s about 30 feet from the gorge rim where the dam’s wing...
View ArticlePostscript
The steel dam at Redridge was completed in November of 1901, and became only the second steel dam in the United States. It was preceded by the Ash Fork Dam in 1898 and followed by the larger Hauser...
View ArticleIn the Shadow of Greatness
The lands south of the Portage were nothing but empty wilderness when the Atlantic Mine first appeared on the scene in 1872. Before the Atlantic took residence only a handful of inconsequential mines...
View ArticleHidden in Plain Site
There was a time when the Copper Country was criss crossed with railways, transportation corridors that moved freight, people, and most importantly copper all across the peninsula. The Keweenaw’s...
View ArticleA Few More Items of Interest
Before moving on from our exploration of the old Redridge dams, I’ve decided to take a final look at a few more details of the old steel dam that we’ve failed to note in our previous installments. We...
View ArticleA Fall Walk in the Clouds
That time of year… all the colors… This is one of those things I’ve missed living out west for too many years and it’s a damn fine sight to see again. We piled into the van last Sunday and dithered our...
View ArticleA Monument of Iron and Concrete
As the new century dawned the great Copper Empire had taken dominion of the rugged peninsula at its feet, transforming what was once a remote wilderness into an industrial megalopolis of almost...
View ArticleSupply Lines
As we continue our fresh look at CCE’s earliest posts we stumble across our first exploration of one of the Keweenaw’s most impressive and popular ruins. That is of course the Redridge Dam, a steel...
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