HOURS OF OPERATON
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MUSEUM
Summer Season: Memorial Day to end of September - Daily from Noon to 4 PM Fall Color Season: (variable-End of September thru mid-October): Friday thru Sunday- Noon to 4 PM Winter Season: mid-October thru Memorial Day - CLOSED *We will open for groups with prior arrangement.* Please call (906)296-4121 to arrange. |
RESEARCH ROOM
All Year: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9 AM to Noon. Other hours may be available by appointment - call to arrange @ (906) 296-4121. Our volunteer staff is happy to help you with local history or genealogical research. |
CAMPUS GROUNDS
Our campus grounds are accessible daily from spring thaw until the snow flies in late fall. We do not plow the parking lot in the winter months. |
Seeking Your Help Gathering Info on Local Veterans
We're looking for your help to honor our local veterans as part of a planned electronic display within our Museum's Veteran's Room. The first version of this display is available for the 2025 season.
To include Veterans in this display, they must meet the following criteria:
If you have a local Veteran you'd like included in our display, please click the button below and fill out the online form to send us your input. Thank you!
To include Veterans in this display, they must meet the following criteria:
- Have been born, lived OR died within Houghton County, Michigan.
- Served at any time from the Civil War to current.
If you have a local Veteran you'd like included in our display, please click the button below and fill out the online form to send us your input. Thank you!
The #3 Steam Locomotive
Generous gifts and donations allowed us to refurbish the boiler of our C&H #3 steam locomotive and receive certification for her to run again on our railroad! Thank you to everyone in the community and elsewhere who supported our desire to get her running again! It is exciting to have a running steam locomotive north of the lift bridge.
Built in 1915 by the H.K. Porter Company, this small industrial steam locomotive was used by the Calumet & Hecla mining company around the mills and smelters of Lake Linden and Hubbell to move copper concentrate, ingots, and other materials. Calumet & Hecla donated the locomotive to the Historical Society in 1969. The #3 serves the Society and our visitors well, providing memories as it takes passengers on rides around our site. We anticipate running her in 2025.
Before we can place the locomotive back in service providing rides around our grounds we must complete repairs to the rails and ties that make up our track. So, we are still in need of donations to complete this work. Your help to get this done will be very much appreciated, not only by our volunteers but also by the many future passengers we hope to provide with a ride behind our historic locomotive.
Built in 1915 by the H.K. Porter Company, this small industrial steam locomotive was used by the Calumet & Hecla mining company around the mills and smelters of Lake Linden and Hubbell to move copper concentrate, ingots, and other materials. Calumet & Hecla donated the locomotive to the Historical Society in 1969. The #3 serves the Society and our visitors well, providing memories as it takes passengers on rides around our site. We anticipate running her in 2025.
Before we can place the locomotive back in service providing rides around our grounds we must complete repairs to the rails and ties that make up our track. So, we are still in need of donations to complete this work. Your help to get this done will be very much appreciated, not only by our volunteers but also by the many future passengers we hope to provide with a ride behind our historic locomotive.
About Us
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Our Museum Complex
Our Museum Complex in Lake Linden was once the site of the largest copper milling operation in North America. Today, it is home to our Museum, and also to the Lake Linden & Torch Lake Railroad, the one room Traprock Valley School House, the WPA era Leo Chaput Log Cabin and the Perl Merrill Research Center (which is our archives and genealogical facility). The HCHS Heritage Center, a former Congregational Church building built in 1887, is just around the corner. Our Operations Open June thru September at variable hours. Our staff is all volunteer so please call ahead. If no one is available to take your call, please leave a message and your call will be returned as soon as possible. Off season tours and field trips can be arranged by calling the museum office at (906) 296-4121 |
Our Mission Statement
The mission of the Houghton County Historical Society is to preserve, present, and interpret the history and culture of the Copper Country of Michigan, with emphasis on Houghton County and copper mining, processing and transportation. The society will pursue this mission through cooperation, collaboration, and participation with the community at large as well as other historical groups. Our Location Located on M-26 in Lake Linden, between Hancock and Copper Harbor, Michigan. The Museum building offers three floors of exhibits of local Copper Country mining, logging and cultural history. Included among the outdoor exhibits is a working Calumet & Hecla Mining Co. train with a 3 gauge Porter steam engine that was used to transport various materials at their mill and smelter sites. The steam train is now used for passenger tours and interpretation of the milling operation. |
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