History & Culture
The people, places, traditions, and history that shape the Upper Peninsula.
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Everyone Thinks the U.P. Is Copper and Iron. In 1880 a Druggist Found Gold.
Everyone remembers U.P. copper and iron. Almost nobody remembers the druggist who…
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The Christmas Tree Ship Left the U.P. in 1912 and Never Arrived. Her Trees Are Still Aboard.
The Rouse Simmons, the Christmas Tree Ship, left Thompson near Manistique in…
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He Greeted Marquette’s Founders in 1849. The City Buried Him Like a King in 1902.
Chief Charles Kawbawgam welcomed Marquette’s founders ashore in 1849, presided as the…
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Michigan’s Worst Mine Disaster Took 51 Men in 15 Minutes. One Man Outclimbed It.
The Barnes-Hecker mine near Ishpeming flooded in 15 minutes in 1926, killing…
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An Entire U.P. Town Emptied Out in 1891. The Furnaces Are Still Loaded.
Fayette is the U.P.’s preserved ghost town, an iron company town abandoned…
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The Last Stagecoach Robbery East of the Mississippi Happened in the U.P.
The last stagecoach robbery east of the Mississippi happened near Lake Gogebic…
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Escanaba Had an Actual Pirate. The Feds Chased Him Down With a Gunboat in 1908.
Roaring Dan Seavey, widely called the only man ever arrested for piracy…
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This Toast Is So Hard You Have to Dunk It. Yoopers Have Loved It Since 1928.
Trenary Toast is the U.P.’s rock-hard cinnamon korppu, baked in the tiny…
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The Feds Seized the U.P.’s Sacred Copper Boulder in 1843. It’s Still in a Smithsonian Storeroom.
The Ontonagon Boulder, a 3,708-pound sacred copper mass that launched the U.P.’s…
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Lake Superior Nearly Swallowed This Lighthouse. A Retired Couple Refused to Let It.
Crisp Point Lighthouse sits 18 miles down a dirt road on the…
