Calumet & Hecla Warehouse Number One: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Keweenaw National Historical Park - Calumet Unit, National Park Service

The Calumet and Hecla (C&H) Warehouse Number One (No. 1) 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 a wealth of copper deposits that brought mining companies and industry-related development to the area. The Warehouse property is located at the intersection of Red Jacket Road and Mine Street in Calumet Township. The site is part of the Calumet Unit Core Industrial Area, which is adjacent to the Village of Calumet and associated with the historic landscape of the C&H Mining Company. The Warehouse, designed by Calumet and Hecla architectural staff, is a two-and-a-half story industrial building with an exterior of red brick masonry and a basalt rock foundation. The Warehouse was built in 1893, shortly after the C&H Mining Company’s most prosperous years. The historic landscape surrounding the long building was noticeably stark, designed to support the functions of industrial mining and transport. The landscape is composed of gravel parking areas, unclipped grass, successional vegetation, and railroad ties and tracks. The National Historic Landmark (NHL) nomination identifies the Calumet Historic District’s period of significance as 1864 to 1930. The period of significance for the Warehouse landscape is the same, although this will be revisited when a Cultural Landscape Report is completed for the Calumet Unit. The C&H Warehouse No. 1 cultural landscape contributes to the Calumet National Historic Landmark District and the C&H Industrial District. The District is significant for associations with the Michigan copper industry, including mining and mining technology, immigration and ethnic settlement, paternalism and company towns, and labor organization. The Warehouse is located along the Calumet conglomerate lode adjacent to the railroad tracks, connecting the mining-related structures. The Warehouse and nearby structures in this industrial core were closely associated, both in proximity and in their connections with the C&H Company. The Calumet and Hecla Warehouse Number One retains its historic integrity based on the presence of the extant landscape characteristics and features from the period of significance. Although minor additions have been made, such as an elevator tower and a truck dock, the Warehouse property retains its overall design. This includes the building orientation, railroad track remnants, and the open character of the site. Anchors to the steam-powered, overhead pulley system also remain. The site possesses the aspects of setting and association due to the extant visual connection with mining structures constructed by the C&H Mining Company. In summary, the C&H Library landscape retains integrity in terms of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The current legal boundaries of the site were established when Universal Oil Products, the successor company to C&H, divided its real estate holdings for sale in the mid-1970s. Purchased by the National Park Service in 2001-02, the property is currently used for museum/curatorial storage.

Calumet & Hecla Warehouse Number One: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Keweenaw National Historical Park - Calumet Unit, National Park Service

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