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When copper mines closed during the Great Depression, more than three-quarters of Keweenaw County’s workforce was reportedly unemployed. Local and federal officials responded with three major public projects that helped create a new tourism economy at Michigan’s northern tip.
This episode of End of the Road in Michigan examines the construction of Brockway Mountain Drive, Ocha Potter’s controversial Keweenaw Park and Golf Course, and the early development of Isle Royale National Park.
Relief workers carved a road across Brockway Mountain, cleared thousands of trees and stumps for a publicly owned resort, and built early visitor facilities on Isle Royale. Critics dismissed Potter’s golf course as “Potter’s Folly,” but the lodge, road and national park remain important Keweenaw attractions more than 90 years later.
These projects did not replace the copper industry or end the region’s hardship. They did, however, provide wages, build lasting public facilities and help establish Copper Harbor as a major Michigan vacation destination.
#MichiganHistory #KeweenawPeninsula #CopperHarbor #IsleRoyale #GreatDepression
The End of the Road in Michigan is a production of
Thumbwind PublicationsThis episode includes AI-generated content.
