Superior Signal and Other Publications

The Society has published a new book "Copper Country Post Cards  - A View of the Past From The Keweenaw Peninsula." The author is Nancy Sanderson, a Life member of the Society since the early 1980s.. The scenes captured in the nearly 300 postcards, many in color, from Nancy's personal collection give a glimpse of what life was like in the Copper Country in the first half of the twentieth century. The book is hard bound and  has a beautiful dust jacket. This is a must have for anyone interested in the history of the Copper Country and a great gift for people with ties to this area. The book may be purchased by mail order and is available in local bookstores as well. $24.95 Note: shipping for this book is $5.

The Keweenaw County Historical Society publishes the quarterly newsletter "The Superior Signal," which often runs to 20 or 24 pages and is filled with well-illustrated articles on local history. This is a benefit of membership, and is not generally on sale otherwise. Several years ago this newsletter won an award of excellence from the Historical Society of Michigan.

The Society also publishes three booklets. One is called "Miskwabik - Red Metal: The Roles Played by Michigan's Copper in Prehistoric North America." This booklet is a reprint of an article by John R. Halsey, the State Archaeologist of Michigan, originally published in "Michigan History Magazine" in 1983, and reprinted by kind permission of the author. It describes the extraction and working of native copper in this region, going back perhaps 5,000 years, and the transport and trading of this copper over a wide area of what is now the eastern U.S. Carefully researched, highly readable, lavishly illustrated, and with extensive footnotes. $4.00

The second booklet is "10 Lights: The Lighthouses of the Keweenaw Peninsula." A small informative booklet with a brief history of each of the ten lighthouses of the peninsula, plus a brief historical essay on the development of lighthouses and their lenses over the centuries. Includes charming skteches of four of the local lighthouses, and a map showing the location of all ten. $2.00

The third booklet is "Central Mine: Years of Hard Work, Lives of Pain and Hope." Central Mine, in the second half of the nineteenth century, was one of the most important copper mining sites in Keweenaw County. Although many of its buildings are now gone, some remain, and the KCHS acquired 38 acres there with the aim of preserving the social history of the copper mining era. This book has essays on the geology and mining of Central, the Central M.E. Church, the stories of several families that bring that era to life, pictures of remaining buildings, 1870 census details, and more. Very few former mine sites have been kept alive as Central has been, and this fascinating book is eloquent testimony to that. $10.00

You may order by mail. Add ten percent for shipping and handling. Mail order and payment to:

Keweenaw County Historical Society
670 Lighthouse Road
Eagle Harbor MI 49950