Coal Dock
Torch Lake sits at the southern end of the Traprock Valley, butted up against the rising ridge-line forming the Keweenaw’s spine. The 2700 acre lake is over 100 feet deep and home to over 200 million tons of stamp sand, dumped into it from the line of stamp mills along its western shore. The sands have permanently altered the lakes appearance and hydrology, creating hundreds of acres of new shoreline. Recently, these desolate sands have been capped with six inches of topsoil, in an attempt to rehabilitate the lake. It was along the top of one of these grass laden caps that we were now exploring, out on the sands deposited by the Quincy Mills over a generation ago.
Pump House (no2)
Stamp Mills required millions of gallons of water - every day - in order to operate. This enormous thirst necessitated a nearby water source and the construction of large steam-powered water pumps to transport that water to the mill. At Quincy that source of water was Torch Lake itself, with the pumps built some distance from the shore. Feeding those pumps was a man-made tunnel which was run from the lake shore up to and underneath the pump house. It was this tunnel that we stumbled across soon after leaving the old coal dock.
Boiler Stacks
Until the completion of the on-site turbine generator in 1923, steam was the principal means of power at the Quincy mills. This meant that there was need for boiler houses on site, one for each of the mills. While we couldn’t find any sign of the No. 2 boiler house, the No. 1 was a different story. For there the towing smokestack still stood, and by simply following it we were able to come across the building’s remains.
The Silo
Standing only a few dozen feet from the smokestacks was what first appeared to be yet another smokestack. This one concrete, half the height of the previous concrete tower, and much thicker at the base. Approaching it, however, we quickly noticed the large opening on its front side. Inside we could make out what looked like a doorway with some sort of metal ladder inside. This was no smokestack. In fact, we have no idea what this thing was used for. The closest description I can come up with is that it’s some type of silo, used to store something but I have no idea what. More on that later, first the tour.
Stuff
After leaving the remains of the old boiler/pump house, we took a stroll around the wooded area area surrounding it. Also once sitting around here was the large coal shed, superintendents office, and a series of trestles and rail lines. Sitting outside of the water tunnel at the opposite side sit the piers from the old No. 2 dock, used for delivery supplies. Most everything else we came across was half buried in trees and bushes, only pieces really of the larger puzzle.