Earliest photograph of Iron Mountain's Chapin Mine

Chapin Mine Initial Settlement of Iron Mountain, ca. fall of 1879-spring of 1880: Long thought to date from the fall of 1879, this photograph, the earliest known of the Chapin Mine in Iron Mountain, actually may have been taken the following spring due to the numerous frame buildings in the background. The camera is facing west and the buildings are situated on what is now the east side of the Chapin Pit. The tramway under construction apparently led to the proposed stockpile area from the primitive shaft, probably one of the seven shafts sunk on Section 30 during the late fall and winter of 1879-1880. The cable passing over the sheave affixed to the simple framework over the shaft probably connected to a hoisting apparatus which raised earth, rock and ore in the bucket resting near the shaft opening in the foreground as the shaft was sunk. The top of a ladder protrudes through the opening directly in front of the bucket, and another ladder lies on the ground. In the early years, ladders provided miners with access to the mines. The shed with the smokestack may have housed the engine brought to the site in the early winter which was first operated by Charles J. Osterberg. [Menominee Range Historical Museum]