Copper Country Rail

The rise and decline of the copper industry in Michigan's Upper Peninsula mirrored that of the railroads that served the area.

From the railroads' beginnings in the early 1870s to the complex rail network of the 1900s, Copper Country exploded with immigrants eager to mine the eponymous metal and their families, brought in by the car-full on train after train. By 1976, the abandonment of the Houghton tracks of the Soo Line (formerly the Mineral Range, Duluth South Shore and Atlantic) meant that Copper Country was once again without the railroad service that built it. This book seeks to tell the story of Copper Country railroads through a collection of pictures from various archival sources, including the authors' personal collections, the National Park Service archives, and many more.

George E. Anderson, a founding member and director of the Keweenaw Railway Historical Society since 1980, graduated from the Art Center College of Design in California in 1960, taught at Wayne State University in Detroit, and retired from General Motors after 43 years as a designer. Richard E. Taylor, past president of the Houghton County Historical Society and a railroad historian, is CEO of RailDreams and a graduate of the University of Michigan. He is also the author of Houghton County: 1870-1920 and coauthor of Isle Royale.