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.
