The Removal of the Osceola #13 Hoist
Over at the Copper Country Forums long-time reader Jay had shared a rumor he had heard about the removal of the hoist from Osceola #13. At first I didn’t believe it. Since I knew that a new business was moving into the old Centennial No. 6 surface plant, I assured Jay that the rumor was most likely about that hoist and not the Osceola 13. He was persistent, so I decided to put it all to rest by just driving down there and checking out. Turns out the rumor’s true.
Yes Virginia, There Is an Old Seneca…
After our little discussion the other day on the mysteries of the Seneca Mine and its many names and faces I decided to head on out there to try to clear up at least one of those mysteries - specifically dealing with the existence of the Seneca Mine as marked in the old topo map I featured in that post. (For those that missed it, the map in question is posted above) This map shows two mines - the Gratiot (with 2 shafts) and the Seneca (with 1 shaft). The Gratiot mine is easy enough to find today, its still marked with a sign labeling the area as “Gratiot Location”. However, what is commonly known as the Seneca Mine is to the south and west - next to a small collection of houses that is currently marked as Seneca Location. So, where is this other Seneca Mine, the one marked here on this map?
A Mine By Any Other Name…
It all started with this - this Bat Cage sitting atop a mine shaft out at the Gratiot Location. When I first noticed this steel contraption along the side of the highway so many years ago I had assumed that this shaft was a Gratiot shaft. That would seem to make sense, since it was located next door to the Gratiot Location. But that is, in fact, not the case. The Bat Cage is clearly marked as Seneca No. 3. This confused me greatly.
East Hancock
When Hancock was first platted by the Quincy Mine the town’s eastern border was a deep ravine in which the Quincy Tramway ran down to the mine’s stamp mill along Portage Lake. As the town expanded, and more space became necessary Quincy platted out new neighborhoods which sprawled out from the town’s early borders. Known as “additions” these new neighborhoods had names such as Hillside, Condon, and Grove. By 1880 Quincy platted out yet another neighborhood to the east of the ravine and began to sell off lots. The area was known at the time as the Quincy Addition, but is known today as East Hancock.
One Last Look
After close to a month I’m happy to say that its time to say goodbye to the Atlas Powder Plant and move one to the next exploration. But before we do I thought I’d through together a map of the Atlas Plant, put together from various sources across the net. Hopefully the map will help give an idea of the size and scope of the complex, and provide some reasoning for such a long and drawn out exploration.
