Glacier Mine: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Region 11 Park Cultural Landscapes Program

Inventory Unit Description: Glacier Mine is a component landscape of the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark parent landscape. The Kennecott Mines were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1986. The NHL includes over 14 thousand acres encompassing the Mill Town, the aerial tramway system, and the Erie, Bonanza, Glacier, and Jumbo mines. The significance of Glacier Mine has been established as a contributing feature of the NHL, however, further explanation is required to articulate its significance as a component landscape of the Kennecott Mines NHL parent landscape. Glacier Mine is individually eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for embodying distinct characteristics of an early twentieth century copper mining camp as well as maintaining a strong association with the historic development, decline, and abandonment of the Kennecott Mines. It is of national significance as a contributing component landscape to the NHL, and its areas of significance are engineering and industry. The period of significance corresponds to the development of Glacier Mine, beginning in 1917 when two tunnels were driven to determine the extent and quality of the ore body and ending in 1938 with the abandonment of the mine Between 1900 and 1938, five distinct mines were developed at Kennecott, each with its associated surface camp: Bonanza, Jumbo, Mother Lode, Erie and Glacier. All of the mines are situated adjacent to a greenstone-limestone contact which defined the location of ore on Bonanza Ridge. Glacier Mine was constructed to support the extraction of the West Slide ore body, which unlike the Jumbo and Bonanza deposits, was formed by the erosion of extremely high grade ores in the Bonanza outcrop that slid downslope into the lateral moraine and ice mass of an alpine glacier, thus making the ore encased in glacial ice rather than loose in the scree. Although, it is likely that exploration and prospecting took place at Glacier Mine in the early 1900s, due to its close proximity to Bonanza Mine, the earliest reference to the mine is in the monthly Kennecott Copper Corporation head cook mess reports from November 1914 to June 1915. Notable exploratory work did occur in 1917 when the Glacier and Upper tunnels were driven to examine the extent and quality of the ore. A third tunnel was driven later to further define the ore body. By 1918, a sufficient amount of ore was located to justify expenditures on the labor, materials, and equipment to remove it and construction began on a 5,000’ long aerial tramway as well as a loading and sorting station at the toe of the glacier. Glacier Mine was immediately put into production once the aerial tramway was completed in 1920. Although Glacier Mine was not active during the 1930s, the stub aerial tramway continued to be used to transport domestic garbage from Bonanza Mine to the head of the glacier where it would be dumped downslope. This work continued until the Kennecott Copper Corporation closed all mining operations on Bonanza Ridge in October 1938. No further work was done at Glacier Mine thereafter.

Glacier Mine: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Series