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Start of Logging
(Photo courtesy of Garlyn Pasive) The Hebbard Lumber & Stone Co. was the main employer in Gay. Most timber was shipped to Houghton County. The town was slowly dying out until 1898. -
Mohawk Mining Co. Founding
The Mohawk Mining Co. bought the Traverse Bay Red Sandstone Co. railroad. They built a 300 foot long dock to Lake Superior for loading coal and supplies [1]. The company spent $450,000 by 1901 to add phone lines, a pump house, houses, offices and many worker houses. Mining activty drew many people into the area. Gay grew from 550 to 800 between 1909 and 1915 [1]. -
Mohawk begins to mine rock
The 1st stamp of 4 stamps went into operation on December 4, 1902 [1]. Each stamp had the daily capacity of about 3,000 tons of rock. In that first month, the mill stamped 8,613 which amounted to 226,824 pounds of copper [1]. The last stamp was put installed in 1905. -
Wolverine & Mohawk Mills
Photo courtesy of More & Gibson Co., New York Both mills were steam powered, which required a vast supply of water and coal [1]. Coal was shipped into the area. Water was pumped through an underground pipe that angled down into Lake Superior. The rock was crushed by the stamps, each using 3.5 million gallons of water per day [1]. -
Coal Dock in Operation
Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech Archives The rock sands left over from the milling process were moved more than 600 feet to the shores of Lake Superior [1]. It's estimated that 760 tons of stamp sands were produced each day of operation. -
Wolverine Mill closes
A shortage of mine rock caused the Wolverine Mill to shut down [1]. All future work would be done at the Mohawk Mill. -
Mohawk Mining Co. sold to Copper Range Co.
Economic depression and low copper prices caused the Mohawk Mill to store much of the copper it produced. Work slowly declined for between 1929 and 1933 [1]. Unable to make any profits, stockholders voted to liquidate the assets of the mill. The property and most of the machinery were sold to the Copper Range Co. in 1934 [1]. The Mowark Mill reported over $14 Billion in profit during its time of operation. -
Logging Operation
Photo courtesy of Gordy Schmitt Logging activity continued throughout the time the mills were in operation [1]. Their closure saw a slight increase in logging activity. -
Remains of Coal Dock
Photo courtesy of Mike Forgrave This is all that remains of the coal loading dock [2]. Each year, more of this dock is revealed, as erosion wears away the stamp sand cliffs. -
Upper Floor Ruins
Photo courtesy of Mike Forgrave The ruins of enormous mills can still be found in the area [2]. Most notable, however, is the vast beach of stamp sands that remain. The sands are continuously eroding into Lake Superior. -
Mountains of Stamp Sand
Photo courtesy of Mi Teacher Excellence Program Website The mountain of stamp sands stand 30 feet tall on average.
