Wm. John Jack Foster Collection

The 7th Street Congregational Church in Red Jacket (Calumet), 1904. (Click on the photo for a larger version.)

It's a good bet you like history if you are hitting the road to the Copper Country. Even if you don't like history, you certainly can't avoid it around here.

In fact, "historical" is the national park's middle name: the Keweenaw National Historical Park. The park includes the Quincy unit, just north of Hancock, and the Calumet unit, which encompasses much of the village. You can take a fascinating tour of the Quincy Mine and visit some of the Keweenaw Heritage Sites to learn more about the area's rich mining history.

Historic attractions include:

The Portage Lake Lift Bridge -- the widest and heaviest double-decked vertical lift bridge in the world. Built in 1959.

The Calumet Theatre today (click on the photo for a larger version)

Calumet Theatre (340 Sixth Street in Calumet) -- One of the first municipal theaters in the country, opening in 1900. It hosted nationally known acts, then converted to a motion picture house and has now been renovated and hosts live entertainment.

Coppertown USA (Red Jacket Road, Calumet) -- The former Calumet & Hecla Pattern Shop building is now a mining museum, tracing the evolution of the mining companies and miners.

Keweenaw Heritage Center at St. Anne's (Scott and Fifth Streets, Calumet) -- Originally a Roman Catholic church, this center preserves and interprets culture and heritage through temporary exhibits.

Upper Peninsula Firefighters Memorial Museum (Sixth Street, Calumet) -- The museum includes exhibits related to a century of firefighting history and is located in the Red Jacket Fire Station, which was builtin 1898.

Houghton County Historical Museum (Lake Linden) -- The museum preserves, presents and interprets the history and culture of the area's copper mining, processing and transportation. It is also the home of the Copper Country Railroad Heritage Center and is in a building that was once the site of the largest copper milling operation in North America.

Laurium Manor Inn (320 Tamarack Street, Laurium) -- Now operated as a bed and breakfast, this 13,000 square foot house began as a home for Thomas Hoatson, a wealthy mining captain. It was built in 1906-1907 and was the largest and most opulent mansion in the western Upper Peninsula, with 45 rooms.

Delaware Copper Mine (12 miles south of Copper Harbor on US-41) -- This mine operated from 1847-1887. It reopened ni 1977 for daily self-guided tours.

Keweenaw County Historical Society (several sites) -- This historical society manages the Eagle Harbor Lighthous and Museum, the Rathbone School, the Bammert Blacksmith Shop, the Phoenix Church and the Central Mine.

A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum (Michigan Tech campus) -- This museum, located at Michigan Technological University, is world-renowned for its collection of Lake Superior copper district minerals.

Copper Range Historical Museum (South Range) -- The museum preserves the historical heritage of the surrounding mines and communities. It was founded in 1988 and is located in a former bank building buillt in the early 1900s.

Hanka Homestead -- The 1920s Finnish farmstead is south of Chassell and west of US-41 and Keweenaw Bay. A log house and barns, sauna, milk house, root cellar and other outbuildings occupy the 40-acre site.