Eben Ice Caves: How They Form and Why There Is No Trail
The Eben Ice Caves form every winter when seep water freezes across sandstone overhangs in Rock River Canyon. They are not caves, and the...
How the U.P. became the U.P.
History & Culture
People, places, traditions, industries, and turning points that shaped Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
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Cliffs Shaft Mine: Ishpeming's Egyptian Obelisks
The Cliffs Shaft Mine headframes in Ishpeming are Egyptian Revival obelisks designed by a Chicago architect in 1919, and crews built them around the...
Jampot Monks: The Keweenaw Bakery in a Burger Shack
The Jampot monks arrived on the Keweenaw in 1983, moved into an abandoned hamburger stand with no heat or plumbing, and started picking wild...
Portage Lake Lift Bridge: The Only Road Onto Copper Island
A ship canal finished in 1874 cut the northern Keweenaw off from the rest of Michigan, and the Portage Lake Lift Bridge is the...
Banished Words List: The U.P. Joke That Ran 50 Years
The LSSU Banished Words List has run every January 1 since 1976. A PR man who used to work in newspapers knew exactly why...
Keweenaw Snow Thermometer: The 390-Inch Winter It Marks
The Keweenaw snow thermometer north of Mohawk marks a 390.4-inch winter. The stranger part is how that number is measured, and why the real...
Miners Castle: The Day a Pictured Rocks Turret Collapsed
Miners Castle is the signature landmark of Pictured Rocks, and on April 13, 2006, its northeast turret collapsed into Lake Superior. The rock it...
Yooper Definition: How the Word Got Into the Dictionary
The Yooper definition entered Merriam-Webster in 2014 after a Delta County prosecutor lost a Scrabble challenge and spent a decade mailing proof to a...
Soo Locks: The One Gate Holding Up the U.S. Economy
Lake Superior sits 21 feet above the rest of the Great Lakes, and one 1,200-foot chamber in Sault Ste. Marie carries almost all of...
Monarch Butterflies at Peninsula Point Lighthouse
From mid-August into September, monarchs funnel down the Stonington Peninsula to the cedars around the 1865 Peninsula Point Lighthouse, roost, and wait for the...
Siphon Bridge, Manistique: The Road Below the River
A paper mill needed water power, a dam would have flooded the town, so Manistique raised the river instead. The Siphon Bridge carried Main...
The Alvin Clark: The Schooner Raised From Green Bay
The Alvin Clark went down in 1864 and came up whole in 1969, the famous Mystery Ship of Menominee. By 1994 it was a...
Michigan's Highest Point: Mount Arvon at 1,979 Feet
Mount Arvon took the crown from Mount Curwood by 11 inches in 1982. A modern resurvey just handed it back by about five, and...
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