Copper Harbor, Michigan Informations

Copper Harbor is an unincorporated community, census-designated place and all-season resort town in northeastern Keweenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is within Grant Township on the Keweenaw Peninsula which juts out from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan into Lake Superior. Due to its natural environment and surroundings, Copper Harbor is marketed as a tourist destination within the Great Lakes region. Its population was 108 as of the 2010 census.

Located at the very tip of the Keweenaw peninsula, the Copper Country was initially home to the Ojibwe people, who had lived in the area for thousands of years before the Europeans came to North America. In the year of 1836, the Upper Peninsula was officially ceded from the Native American Chippewa to the United States following the signing of the Treaty of Washington. The treaty was signed in the national capital, Washington, D.C., by Henry Schoolcraft, and Native American representatives from the Ojibwe and Odawa nations.

Copper Harbor was host to the first mineral land agency throughout the entire Lake Superior District. Captain Walter Cunningham was appointed by the now-defunct United States Department of War to act as a Special Agent to the area. As soon as wayfinding was established in the Spring of 1843, Cunningham had came to the area and opened his office which was thereafter named the "Government House." It was positioned on Porter's Island, a small rocky island just opposite of present-day Downtown Copper Harbor.

The Pittsburgh and Boston Copper Harbor Mining Company, formed by John Hayes of Cleveland, Ohio, began excavating some pits near Haye's Point in Copper Harbor in the year of 1844. It was a small development at first, but its mine was modern for its time, and the company struck it rich in 1845. The Pittsburgh and Boston mine operations were some of the very first in the state of Michigan.

A few years later, the Central Mine, Cliff Mine and others were opened and became successful.

By 1870, the copper resources in the community had been largely worked out.

The name of the community, Copper Harbor, alludes to the former use of its harbor as a port for shipping copper mined from local deposits during the mid-19th century.

The town is the northern terminus of US 41 (both in Michigan and nationally) and the eastern terminus of M-26. Both approaches to Copper Harbor, the shore-hugging M-26 from Eagle Harbor and the more inland, rugged US 41 complete with rolling hills, offer dramatic views, as does the Brockway Mountain Drive overlook.

Copper Harbor is at 47°28′08″N 87°53′18″W / 47.4687939°N 87.8884416°W / 47.4687939; -87.8884416Coordinates: 47°28′08″N 87°53′18″W / 47.4687939°N 87.8884416°W / 47.4687939; -87.8884416; this puts it farther north than anywhere else in the state of Michigan, other than Isle Royale National Park. The ZIP code is 49918 and the FIPS place code is 18100. The community sits at the top of the Keweenaw Peninsula, but not at its end. The Peninsula's actual end is roughly 10 miles beyond the town as it curves to the east and south. There is a total of 60 square miles east and south of Copper Harbor with no pavement, development, or attractions.

In relation to other communities in the Keweenaw, Copper Harbor is located 9 miles from the now-ghost town of Mandan, 12 miles north of Delaware, 16 miles west of Eagle Harbor, and 37 miles north of the village of Calumet.

Copper Harbor has a humid continental climate. Summers are warm but rarely hot due to the moderating influence of Lake Superior, whilst winters are cold and snowy, albeit milder than areas on similar parallels to the west, due to the low-scale maritime moderation. Although winter temperatures are similar to those in nearest large metropolitan city Minneapolis a couple of degrees latitude south-west, the main difference being that April is also a winter month in Copper Harbor, since the marine effects delay spring. The temperature lag effect is so great that March holds the town's record low, and April's record low temperatures are not much warmer than those of December.

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