Skip to main content

Great Lakes Road Trip Day 7 Part 1; Clinching M-26

I started the morning in Houghton just as the sun was coming up.  I had a pretty decent view of US 41 northbound on Shelden Avenue and the Portage Lake Lift Bridge from the hotel.





My understanding is that M-26 used to go directly through Atlantic Mine but the modern highway bypasses it.  The next major inhabited location south of Atlantic Mine and Houghton is South Range.  South Range was settled in 1902 and incorporated in 1906 with said name because it was at the southern end of the copper mining district in the Keweenaw Peninsula. 





South of South Range is Trimountain and Painesdale.  At least in the case of Painesdale it was built for the Champion Mine in 1889 which operated nearby.  




The next community southbound is Toivola which was settled in 1845.  Toilova was originally a logging town but became a stop on Copper Range Railroad which operated from 1899 to 1972.





South of Toivola is the ghost town Donken.  Donken appears to have never been much more than a rail siding for the Copper Range Railroad.  Supposedly postal service operated in Donken from 1919 to some time in the 1930s.  There isn't much left of the town other than a couple abandoned buildings off the side of M-26.





South of Donken M-26 enters Ontonagon County and picks up M-38 for about a mile before splitting off towards Mass City. 








Mass City was settled in 1848 when copper deposits were found in the area.  Apparently the town was never incorporated but more officially plotted out in the 1850s.  Apparently Mass City takes it's name from the Mass Mining Company which operated the deposits nearby. 




South of Mass City M-26 meets US 45 and terminates.  Before the US Route system M-26 actually used to connect to what was WI 26.  Odd to think that many of the Mid-West states already had well plotted out highway systems before the US Routes that have stood the test of time over the last century.









Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dillon Road

Dillon Road is a 34.2-mile highway located in northern Coachella Valley of Riverside County, California.  Dillon Road begins at Avenue 48 on the outskirts of Indio and ends to the west at California State Route 62 near San Gorgonio Pass.  Dillon Road was developed the 1930s as a construction road for the Colorado River Aqueduct.  Dillon Road serves as a northern bypass to much of the development of Coachella Valley.  Dillon Road is known for it's frequent dips and spectacular views of San Gorgonio Pass.   Part 1; the history of Dillon Road Dillon Road was constructed as a haul road for the Colorado River Aqueduct through Coachella Valley.  The Colorado River Aqueduct spans 242 miles from Parker Dam on the Colorado River west to Lake Mathews near Corona.  Construction of the Colorado River Aqueduct began during January 1933 near Thousand Palms and was made functional on January 7, 1939.  West of Berdoo Canyon Road the alignment of Dillon Road is largely concurrent with the Colorado

Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road

Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road is an approximately 21-mile highway located in southeast Kern County.  Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road begins at Tehachapi Boulevard (former US Route 466) in Tehachapi and crosses the Tehachapi Mountains via the 4,820-foot-high Oak Creek Pass.  Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road enters Antelope Valley of the wider Mojave Desert and passes by the historic stage station of Willow Springs to a southern terminus at Rosamond Boulevard.  Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road has historic ties to the Havilah-Los Angeles Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road due to the once reliable presence of water at Willow Springs. Part 1; the history of Tehachapi-Willow Springs Road Oak Creek Pass and Willow Springs were known to the local tribes of the Tehachapi Mountains for generations.  The first documented European crossing of Oak Creek Pass was during 1776 as part of an expedition by Francisco Garces.  Oak Creek Pass is as used again by John C. Fremont during an 1844-1845 expedition to e

The 1928 Iowa Hill Road Bridge

The 1928 Iowa Hill Road Bridge is a derelict structure located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Placer County, California.  The 1928 Iowa Hill Road Bridge can be found between the communities of Colfax and Iowa Hill.  The 1928 Iowa Hill Road Bridge is a wire suspension structure which spans the North Fork American River.  The 1928 Iowa Hill Road Bridge was replaced by a modern span and converted to pedestrian use following floods during 1963.   Part 1; the history of the 1928 Iowa Hill Road Bridge During 1853 gold was discovered at what to become Iowa Hill.  The gold mining claims soon led to a small community known as Iowa City being established.   By 1854, Post Office Service began at the mines of Iowa City.  By 1856 gold production at Iowa City was estimated to be around $100,000.  Iowa City was burned in fires during 1857 and 1862 but the community was rebuilt with more modernized structures.   The location of Iowa City can be seen as "Iowa Hill" on the 1873 Bancroft