Copper Range Company

In 1894, the Atlantic Mining Company built a timber crib dam across the Salmon Trout River in Redridge, Houghton County, Michigan. The dam created a reservoir which supplied water to the Atlantic stamp mill which extracted copper from ore-bearing rock. With the growth of the Atlantic stamp mill and the construction of the Baltic Mining Company mill nearby, this reservoir proved to be insufficient, and in 1901 a steel gravity dam was built, submerging the wooden dam. In 1979 the Copper Range Company cut holes in the steel dam to eliminate flood danger as the need for the dam had ended with the closing of the Baltic Mine in 1931. The wooden dam was above water again and ownership was transferred to Stanton Township in 1992; however, by 2001 the Department of Environmental Quality considered the dam a significant hazard, forcing Stanton Township to consider renovating the dam. Unable to afford complete renovation, restoration or repair the township settled on a short term solution by removing the upper 13 feet of the structure, relieving some of the pressure. Although a more permanent repair is still needed, a recent study by a team of students from Michigan Technological University determined that both dams are likely to remain safe for the foreseeable future.