Jackson Mine
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Jackson Mine
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North Jackson Pit No. 1, 2010
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| Nearest city | Negaunee, Michigan |
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| Coordinates | 46°29′55″N 87°37′22″W / 46.49861°N 87.62278°WCoordinates: 46°29′55″N 87°37′22″W / 46.49861°N 87.62278°W |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| Built | 1848 |
| NRHP Reference # | 71000414 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | September 03, 1971 |
| Designated MSHS | February 18, 1956 |
The Jackson Mine is an open pit iron mine in Negaunee, Michigan, extracting resources from the Marquette Iron Range. The first iron mine in the Lake Superior region, Jackson Mine was designated as a Michigan State Historic Site in 1956 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The Lake Superior Mining Institute said, the mine "is attractive in the iron ore region of Michigan and the entire Lake Superior region, because of the fact it was here that the first discovery of iron ore was made, here the first mining was done, and from its ore the first iron was manufactured." Multiple other mines soon followed the Jackson's lead, establishing the foundation of the economy of the entire region. The mine is located northwest of intersection of Business M-28 and Cornish Town Road.
In 1844, government surveyor Douglass Houghton tasked his deputy, William A. Burt, with leading a party into Michigan's Upper Peninsula to carry out a full survey of the land. On September 19, 1844, Burt noted odd compass fluctuations while surveying in the area of Teal Lake (near present-day Negaunee, Michigan). He asked his men to investigate, and they discovered rock outcroppings that proved to contain iron ore, later known as the Marquette Iron Range. Although the local Ojibwe people (Chippewa) and earlier Native Americans certainly knew of these ore deposits, Burt and Houghton noted the find in their reports, and were the first to publish this discovery to the world at large.
In June 1845, businessmen organized the Jackson Mining Company in Jackson, Michigan, with Abram V. Berry as president and Philo M. Everett as treasurer. The company was interested in starting a copper mine in the Upper Peninsula; it secured a lease for that purpose and sent a prospecting party, led by Everett, to the Upper Peninsula. Arriving in Sault Ste Marie, they met French Canadian Louis Nolan, who knew of Burt's discovery the year before. While not secret, the find was not generally known. Everett expressed interest in the iron, and Nolan guided the party to the mouth of the Carp River (the location of present-day Marquette) and on to Teal Lake, but was unable to find the correct location. The party continued onward to Copper Harbor, where they fell in with Chippewa chief Marji-Gesick, who was familiar with the Teal Lake area. Marji-Gesick guided the party to the right area and showed Everett iron ore in the roots of a fallen tree. The Jackson Mine was developed here. The stump of this tree was preserved for its historical importance until it burned in 1900, even so the tree was symbolically included in the seal of the city of Negaunee. Everett registered a claim to the site and had samples of the ore assayed; the ore proved to be of high quality, specifically hematite with a small percentage of manganese and chromium. The Jackson Mining Company switched its focus from copper to iron.
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