We love the rugged beauty of Keweenaw County in the
remote reaches of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Here, the problems of hectic city
life seem to fade away as we enjoy a stunning sunset after a relaxing day of
visiting lighthouses and waterfalls.
One of the Keweenaw area’s most interesting and
impressive places may be a man-made site that owes its existence to the hard
times of this country’s Great Depression in the 1930s.
Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, a rustic-style golf resort
one mile south of Copper Harbor, represents the hopeful legacy of the 1930s
Civil Works Administration (CWA) and Works Progress Administration (WPA) government
programs that helped employ people as they struggled to rebuild their lives and
provide for their families during some of the coldest and darkest days of the
Depression.
The Keweenaw’s remote location only added to its
troubles as the entire country spiraled into unimaginably high unemployment.
Keweenaw County’s economy was heavily dependent on copper mines. When the mines
all shut down in the early 1930s, and former residents who returned home after
losing jobs they’d moved to southern Michigan to take, unemployment in the
county reportedly reached a shocking 70 to 80 percent.
Ocha Potter, Keweenaw Road Commission head and
superintendent of the Ahmeek Mine, proved to be a visionary when it came to
proposing and developing projects to win Federal funding and employ Keweenaw
workers. Potter planned many county projects like roadside parks, bridges and
the ambitious project initially known as “Potter’s Folly”—Keweenaw Mountain
Lodge.
The Keweenaw County Board of Park Trustees acquired
167 acres of land from the Keweenaw Copper Company on a plateau overlooking
Lake Superior.
The golf
course and lodge started as a CWA project in 1933, and workers began clearing a
heavily wooded area of pine, spruce, oak and maple trees to make way for the
golf course fairway. Workers saved many large pine and spruce logs for the
planned log clubhouse and cottages.
The winter of 1933-34 was particularly harsh, with
many days of sub-zero temperatures in January and February, but workers used
scrap wood for fires to keep warm.
“Potter’s Folly” proved to be anything but foolish
as the project employed many grateful former mine workers and fine craftspeople,
supporting them and their families through the rough winter.
By the end of 1934, a nine-hole golf course and
hand-hewn log clubhouse were pretty much completed. Workers then built 20
simple cottages as a WPA project.
Keweenaw Mountain Lodge opened to the public on June
23, 1935, and still hosts golfers, dinners and overnight guests.
There have been a few additional cottages built and
some revisions and additions made to the main lodge over the years, but the
buildings still maintain their 1930s rustic charm with dark-painted logs, and
hand-crafted stone and wood trim. The lodge earned a place on Michigan's
historic register in 1976 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The lodge’s dining room is a great place for a nice
dinner. We always make it a point to go for a meal and to admire the impressive
log lodge with its huge stone fireplaces when we visit Copper Harbor. Wandering
around the grounds and the lodge’s golf course, you find plenty more evidence
of proud craftsmanship in details like log lawn furniture and stone planters.
And now more than ever, I think we can appreciate
the lodge’s legacy of hope for the future in the face of challenging times.
© Dominique King 2009 All rights reserved
Such a beautiful place, how i wish i could get there. Thanks.
-manny
Posted by: mountain golf community | April 01, 2010 at 01:41 AM