Calumet & Hecla Library: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Keweenaw National Historical Park - Calumet Unit, National Park Service

The Calumet & Hecla (C&H) Library is located in the Calumet Unit of Keweenaw National Historical Park in Calumet, Michigan. Calumet is located in the center of the prominent Keweenaw Peninsula, which extends about 100 miles into Lake Superior from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The Copper Range forms a highland spine along the length of the peninsula, containing copper deposits that brought a number of mining companies and industry-related developments to the region. The Library site is located in the Calumet Unit Core Industrial Area, which is part of the larger historic landscape associated with the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. The library building is two and one-half stories, with an exterior of basalt poor rock, granite fieldstone, and brick. The southeastern portion of the land parcel, which is currently owned by the National Park Service (NPS), contained a church (no longer extant) during the historic period. Landscape features include a mowed lawn, an asphalt parking lot, concrete walkways, a variety of street trees, arborvitaes at the rear and side elevations of the building, and remnants of a barberry hedge located along Mine Street. The National Historic Landmark (NHL) nomination establishes the Calumet Historic District’s period of significance as 1864 to 1930. The period of significance attributed to the Library landscape is the same, although this may be modified based on research for the Calumet Unit Cultural Landscape Report (CLR). The Calumet Unit is significant for its associations with ethnic communities, extraction and mining industries, industry and engineering, westward expansion, company towns, and labor organization. The C&H Library, built in 1898, contributes to the Historic District through its service as a public library and employee bathhouse during the period of significance. The bathhouse function ceased in 1911, when a new bathhouse was constructed nearby. The company’s success was assisted by its approach to management, developing programs and services that supported the labor force while also encouraging dependency and maintaining control. The Library is a significant example of the corporate paternalism practiced by the C&H, intended to help cultivate a stable, healthy, and loyal workforce. It provided an array of cultural facilities and an extensive collection that spanned many languages, suitable for the largely-immigrant workforce. The Library also served a didactic role, using collections, maps, and displays to acculturate foreign immigrants to American values and social norms. The C&H Library landscape retains its historic integrity because of the survival of landscape characteristics and features from the period of significance. The site possesses the aspect of setting due to the continued visual connection with the mining structures constructed by the C&H Mining Company. Design, materials and workmanship are maintained, as the stone and brick building exterior have changed very little. The manicured lawn, concrete walkways and sidewalks, and oak and basswood street trees date to the historic period. A statue of the company’s long-time president, Alexander Agassiz, was moved from its historic location to the library site in 1974. The site retains the aspect of feeling due to the presence of the Library building, open lawn and street trees, and the mine-related structures on adjacent properties. It continues to be associated with the C&H Mining Company through its close proximity to the industrial infrastructure and the C&H General Office Building. In summary, the C&H Library landscape retains integrity in terms of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The C&H Library currently functions as the Keweenaw History Center and is owned and managed by the National Park Service.

Calumet & Hecla Library: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Keweenaw National Historical Park - Calumet Unit, National Park Service

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