Yet Another Powder House
We have seen a few of these buildings, and we could tell almost right away what it was for once we stumbled across it. The thick walls, lack of windows, and vents over the doors all point to one thing: powder house. We have featured two other similiar buildings here on Explorer; one at the Central Mine and another at the Mohawk Mine. There is sure to be others. These buildings were built tough, specifically to survive the detonation of its explosive contents. Nature and time won’t be quite as harsh.
This specimen sits along a snowmobile trail behind the remains of the old Ahmeek No. 2. Its easily accessable placement resulted in a great deal of graffiti and vandalism, but even with that the building was in good shape. Here we peek in through the front door. These large iron hinges would of help an even larger iron door, designed to withstand any blast emanating from inside. Unlike the other powder houses we have found, this one had both a front and rear door. I’m not sure why. One side might of served a railroad siding while the other was used to unload the explosives. Perhaps.
A wider look at the buildings interior. In the background you can see the rear door to the building. I’m taking the photo through the front door. (or vice versa, depending on your point of view I suppose) Unlike the other powder houses we have found previously, this one still has its roof.
This roof is made of concrete, set atop a grid-work of beams and corrugated steel. This seems interesting since the outer walls are still made of brick. Why not make the entire structure out of concrete? Either the original roof was blasted off at some point (requiring a replacement) or the concrete had another structural purpose.
Another interesting detail we hadn’t found elsewhere were these steel bars strung across the top of the walls. I think these were some type of structural “tie” that held the walls together in case there was an explosion inside the building.
Heres what those rods were connected to on the outside of the building’s walls - large bolts and washers. There was one of these every couple of feet or so along both side walls.
These are something we have seen before. These air vents above each of the doorways. I think they were meant to vent out hot air or any gases that might accumulate inside the building. This one is more modern and has some ductwork attached to the outside. At the other powder houses these vents were simply holes in the wall.
Here lies another mystery. All along the floor of the building was thousands of pieces of what looked like ceramic pots. I’m not sure what there were from, but they might of been remains of whatever was stored in here last. Perhaps they have nothing to do with the mine, or not. I don’t know.
ahem - I was trying to use the contact page to contact you off of the public message page but I kept getting a verification code error….so I will just post it publically here since I know it works….
hi - just another note to say thanks for resparking that eternal interest in the Copper country in me! I was wondering if you ever been to the Yooperrails yahoogroups discussion group? There are many historian buffs like us that post on that group…You may find it interesting and a source of answers to questions (or post questions that lead to more questions) you may have about the copper country railroads and industries….there was a nice fellow that passed away a couple of years ago named John Campbell - he was an encyclopedia of copper country railroad info and he posted often to this list. His knowledge of obscure Copper Country Railroad information was simply amazing and inspiring. Look back at the archive messages for many interesting discussions related to the UP railroads/industries (and some of the Copper Country too).
take care
shawn
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/yooperrails/
shawn | September 26, 2007
“they might of been remains of wah” … Either it’s the remains of a curious UP phrase, or something got cut off.
dcclark | September 26, 2007
Shawn..
Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out. Railroads are always fascinating to me, but there is so little left of the ones that once ran here. Perhaps a place like that will help fill in the missing pieces..
dcclark..
Thanks for the catch. I guess 1 person out there reads what I write (or at least 1 that will say something when I screw up!)
explorer | September 27, 2007
Great site! I’m trying to find a section I was at last week, but stopped here for a comment. The roof on the powder house was intentionally flimsy so that in the unfortunate event of an explosion, the blast would be directed upward instead of outward, causing the thick walls to become projectiles. You may also notice that in some locations the powder house is placed in a valley so that the blast would be contained. The Trimountain Mine powderhouse is a great example. Keep up the good work, but be wary of private property.
Kurt Fosburg | December 3, 2007
Kurt-
Thanks again for the kudos! This powder house is actually a lot closer to the mine then any we have found before - which seemed odd. I know that in Champion at least they sit way off and out of the way from the rest of the surface plant. Haven’t found one in a valley yet, but the one at Central sits behind a rocky cliff. Of course behind the cliff sat the Central School, so it probably wasn’t that safe. My guess is that these things didn’t go off very often, and I don’t known if there was many accidents like that of the powder house exploding around here. (although what a mess it made I’m sure)
explorer | December 4, 2007
Now you have me thinking… I don’t remember exactly where the powderhouse in the valley was. It was a long time ago! I was doing the exact same thing you have been doing; bombing around the Keweenaw exploring every building, hole in the ground, etc. Your site has brought back some very fond memories, and a lot of fuzzy ones! Unfortunately that was before the days of digital cameras, so lugging around a camera wasn’t always on my mind. If I think of where that powderhouse was, I’ll add a comment.
Capt. Kurt Fosburg | December 4, 2007