From the desk of President John Emerson Berry:
On August 31, 1961, Weldon Trevethan, Ruth G. Butler, George
Graham, and Louis G. Koepel signed Articles of Incorporation
for a non—profit corporation to “find, to preserve, and to
make available to the public a share of Houghton County's
natural science, industry, science, mining and general historical
interests.” Fifty—five years later, come August, welcome to
the Houghton County Historical Museum Society Inc.
Calumet and Hecla had an office building and land in Torch Lake
Township that the company had stopped using in about 1958.
The company donated these, and the Society found a home,
what we today call our campus. That campus has grown
beyond the C&H office building to include the old fire hall, the
Leo Chaput log cabin, the Louis Moilanen granary, the Mineral
Range depot, and the Trap Rock Valley one room school house.
Just down the street and around the corner is the 1887
Congregational Church, which today serves as our Heritage
Center.
Thanks to decades of volunteers, our Society is healthy and
growing. I cannot mention every person who has given, and
continues to give generously of their time to this Society,
however we appreciate all of our volunteers. Many thanks to
the train guys, all of our Museum volunteers, the research
office volunteers, the Board of Directors, and all of our friends,
both individuals/families, and businesses, who donate
generously to fund our operations. Please consider coming by
and helping out, we are 100% volunteer. There is always
worthwhile work to be done.
We look forward to cleaning the Museum, other buildings and
grounds in May. We plan to open in June. The radio hams will
be here again. There will be events with the train and other
events leading up to a scary Halloween and our Christmas
Special.
Please check out our newly revised website, reach out to us on
Facebook, or just give us a call. We are always glad to hear from
our members and to include them in our endeavors.
2016 Schedule of Events
June 18 …. Museum Opens
June 25th & 26th… Ham Radio Field Days
The Houghton County Historical Society will once
again host the ARRL (American Radio Relay
League) Field Days. The HCHS grounds will open
at noon on Saturday & Sunday with the actual
event beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and
running until 2:00p.m. on Sunday.
Jul. 2 & 3 … Our 4th of July Celebration
Join us for our nation's 240th birthday!
Ride the C&H Steam Engine Old #3 on Saturday
from noon until dusk, and again on Sunday from
noon until 4 PM.
Take an historic stroll through our Museum in the
former C&H Mill site Office Building. Open
Saturday from noon until 4 PM.
August Steam Locomotive Event - date TBD
Help HCHS celebrate the National Park Service's
100th Birthday!
Sept. 10 & 11…Trains, Tractors & More, and
Museum Open House
Join the HCHS for a fun Open House weekend.
Admission to the Museum and grounds is free!
Look over the antique tractors. Take a ride on
the train.
Oct. 22 - Ghost Train & Haunted House
Ghost Train for Kids - 2PM to 5PM
Ghost Train for the Brave - 6:30PM to 9:30PM
Oct. 29 Annual Meeting / Dinner
More info available as we get closer to the date.
Dec. 3 Santa Train
Santa arrives on the Santa Train at 1PM.
After his arrival, he and Mrs. Claus will be at the
Leo Chaput Log Cabin to hear your Christmas
wish list.
Take home a cookie and candy cane from Mrs.
Claus.
The train departs from the depot every 5 minutes
until 5PM (Weather permitting)
HOUGHTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
2015 FINANCIAL REPORT
Ordinary Income / Expense
January through
December 2015 (accrual basis)
Income
Donations & Memberships
Donor Designated (Restricted)
Sales
Services / Rent / Other
Museum Admissions
Admissions / Fees
Train / Combo Fares
Special Events
Total Income
Cost of Goods Sold
Merchandise Cost of Sales
Special Events Direct Costs
Total Cost of Goods Sold
GROSS INCOME
$7,343.00
$2,900.00
$989.70
$1,350.00
$2,134.60
$61.00
$3,670.00
$4,357.75
$22,806.05
$23.50
$600.00
$623.50
$22,182.55
Expenses
U.S. Treasury – IRS
Advertising / Promotions
Grant Disbursement
Contract Services
Grounds Maintenance
Insurance
Licenses / Fees & Dues
Miscellaneous
Repairs / Maintenance
Supplies
Telephone
Electricity
Gas
Water & Sewer
Total Expenses
NET INCOME
($4,255.15)
($1,030.00)
($3,850.00)
($506.19)
($2,039.40)
($3,000.00)
($100.00)
($279.77)
($991.62)
($1,335.80)
($1,524.92)
($4,143.99)
($5,444.53)
($1,377.47)
($21,368.54)
$814.01
ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO
From the vantage point of our lives in 2016, the world of one hundred years ago might seem simple or unsophisticated.
Certainly no one in 1916 was updating their Facebook status or tweeting about the latest election debates.
The world of 1916 has some things in common with our world today. It was a presidential election year, for example.
The Republican candidate, Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes, battled against the incumbent Democrat,
Woodrow Wilson. Hughes resigned from the Supreme Court to be the Republican candidate, leaving a vacancy on the
court in an election year, a rare happenstance we see again this year with the passing of Justice Scalia.
1916 was also a leap year, just like 2016. The notion of a leap year goes all the way back to Roman times – certainly
nothing new for us or our grandparents and great-grandparents in 1916.
In other ways 1916 was a different world. The world was at war in 1916, though America remained neutral. The country
was divided between those who thought we should remain neutral, and the interventionists who thought we should
join with the British and French Allied forces against the Germans. Battles you have read about in your history books
would have appeared as news reports in the Daily Mining Gazette in 1916. Gallipolli in January, and the Battle of the
Somme, which started in July and lasted all the way into November. The US ended the year still not engaged in the
war, which it didn’t enter until April, 1917.
Through it all, Houghton County residents went about their lives in 1916, just as today we go about ours. Below, we’ve
gathered some snippets from the Historical Society’s collection of newspapers, that give a glimpse into those lives
they lived 100 years ago.
The latest innovation in banking wasn’t online – it was the
checkbook – much easier just to write a check then to walk
down town. (An ad from January 4)
Innovations were happening in the
field of snow removal, as this
January 1st article tells us.
Remarking on the weather is a timeless
activity. On March 2nd of 1916, the article
below appeared.
Preserving our history was just as important in 1916 as it is
today. (as reported in the Calumet News of October 10th.)
And hockey was the game to watch, in person, at the
Amphidrome...
Trap Rock Valley School
Roll Call of Members
Here’s something we don’t see today – ice
harvesting. Two local companies harvested ice for
storage and use in the summer months.
In March, the Calumet Daily News thought it
important to remind us of the rules around the
primary.
Dreaming of a new car? The Hudson Super Six
might be the one for you! Roscoe in Eagle River or
T.W. in Laurium can make it happen. (March 3,
1916)
Finally, a couple of
recipes from the Daniel
Webster Flour
Cookbook, published by
your friends at the Eagle
Roller Flour Company of
New Ulm, Minnesota in
1907. Mom is perhaps
still making these
recipes nine years later?
2016 Houghton County Historical Society Membership Roll (as of March 4th)
Corporate Members
Dorthey Behrend & Mildred Pyorala
Martin Pelland
Jim Germain
Loading Zone II Bar & Grill
James & Linda Sarazin, DDS
Gerald Perreault
Ernest Griff
Peninsula Copper Industries, Inc
Bruce & Nancy Seely
Dana Richter
Michael Groeneveld
Quincy Hill Auto Repair
William Sethness
Judith Rupley
John Haeussler
Williams-Giroux American Legion
Lawrence Struck Jr.
John Ryan
Viola Halkola
Douglas Stuart
Donald Savera
Filmore Halonen
Walter & Karyl Tyler
Ken Schei
Gordon Heaver
Douglas Schleef
Donald Hiltunen
Corporate Life Members
Alpha Delta Kappa
Alpha Phi Omega
Individual Members
Richard Sewell
Paul & Elsie Hinzmann
Calumet Lions Club
Barbara Abbott
Karen Siekas
Sandra Hollingworth
Charter Township of Calumet
Linda Allison
William Sproule
Paul Hunnell
City of Hancock
Arden Bierman
Jeffrey Stricker
Jean Johnson
City of Houghton
Steve Blackburn
Doug Terrell
Paul Kemppainen
CLK Public Schools
Carol Borich
Neil Trainor
Joseph Kirkish
Copper Country Ford
Steven Brest
Kyle Ver Berkmoes
Ed & Annette Koepel
Copper Country Veterinary Clinic
Barb Brett
VFW Post # 4624
Albert Koskela
Copper Range Abstract & Title
Chassell Historical Organization
Marcia Viegelahn
Paul La Vanway
Hancock Public Schools
Chopp Kallio Insurance
Tony Villareal
Michael & Sharon Lahti
Horner Flooring
Drew Coyle Jr.
Roger Webster
Charlotte Larson
KNHP
Larry Curtin
Alan West
John Lawton
Semco Energy Gas Co
Janet Anuta Dalquist
Don Young
Kurt Leuthold
Superior National Bank
Mary Drew
U. P. Engineers and Architects
David Dunstone
Life Members
Robert Lovell
Upper Peninsula Power Company
Francis Earnest
Arthur Anderson
William Martin
Robert Erkkila
Margaret Barkell
Louie & Sandra Meneguzzo
Family Members
Ted Gast
Ruth Barkell
Donald Mikkola
Vernon Axford
Eric Giusti
John Bashaw
Larry & Nancy Molloy
John & Scarlet Berry
Ruth Gleckler
Lloyd Beriman
Ruth Nara
Earl & Jan Brogan
Marvin Halsey
Al & Gloria Bilgen
North Point History Society
Tom & Donna Cole
John Hamar
Roy & Lenore Bonini
Kathryn Olson
James & Nancy Dast
Pam Hawley
David Bozotte
Susan & Alice Paquette
Mark & Joy Dennis
Donald Hennen
Terry Braun
Dave Paris
Jeff & Chris Dennis
Gale Jamsen
F. Carlton
Carol Parssinen
Arthur Dittenber
Allan Johnson
Leonard Chaput
David Pulse
Lawrence & Carol Evers
Steven Karpiak. Jr.
Donald Chaput
Ann G. Rea
Kazuya & Martha Fujita
Brian Keeney
Frances Chaput
Chester Rheault
Jay & Phyllis Green
Catherine Kelley
Alvin & Shirley Clark
James Ruppe
Leroy Haltunen
Carol Koty
William Cochran
Margaret Salmi
John & Christy Hilgers
Ron La Casse
David Colyer
June Schaible
Kim Hoagland
William LaBell
Michael Davenport
Ken Seaton
Douglas Johnson
Eleanor Leary
Jack Des Rosiers
David Short
Mike & Wanda Kolb
Herbert Leopold
Karen Dupuis
John Siller
Craig & Jeanne Kurtz
Dennis Leopold
Elmer Dupuis
Lloyd Smith
Robert & Deloris Langseth
William Lohela
Jean Ellis
Theresa Spence
James Manderfield
Bruce Mac Donald D.D.S.
Lawrence Falater
Susan Stacknik, D.D.S.
Douglas McDowell
Shirley Mac Intosh
Clarence Fisher
Camiel Thorrez
Keith & Elsa Mugford
Rudolph Maki
Paul Frair
Sharon Turovaara
Tony & Mildred Ozanich
Stuart Mathias
Melvin Fraki
Waino Turovaara
David & Nancy Parker
Edward Milszeski
Paul Freshwater
Peter Van Pelt
Lionel Perreault
Eric Munch
Kitti Frimodig
Frederick Von Batchelder
Albert & Colleen Perreault
Ken Nicholls
Christopher Gariepy
Richard Walrath
Anton Pintar
Richard Olson
Terry & Jean Gariepy
Avis West
Mary Long
James Wiita
REFLECTIONS ON THE TRAPROCK VALLEY SCHOOL HOUSE
In 1983 the Traprock Valley schoolhouse was relocated to the grounds of the Houghton County Museum Complex.
Restoration of the school house took place over many years after that, and included exterior painting, repairs to the
belfry and windows, interior restoration, and the installation of the bell from the former Seivi school. In July of 1989
the Historical Society held a dedication to reopen the restored school.
A pamphlet was produced that included reflections of many who had fond memories of the school house. A few of
those are reproduced here –
Flora Erkkila Immonen was eight years old when she first went to the Traprock Valley school in 1914.
She was the only child to continue on to school in Lake Linden, her sister Laura and brother Edward
"… stayed on the farm. “ Her father Isaac had been a copper miner in Calumet prior to moving down
to his new farm home with his wife Maria. The former Erkkila home is still standing. Flora remembers
teachers “…Bessie Williams, May Moehrke, and Elsie Nichols".
Seventy-three-year-old Ray Koskiniemi related that although he lived in Mayflower and personally
had attended the Old Colony school on the hill, Ray remembers " ... attending the farm meetings at
the Traprock Valley school building". He also stated “…the Traprock Valley 4-H Club was one of the
largest in the Upper Peninsula and that the club met at the school in 1931”. He said he also
remembered teachers Lempi Jukuri and Saimi Niemi.
Arlene Koskela Naasko said her father moved to the valley farm in 1901. She remembered "... Ruth
Heikkinen driving a covered, rounded top school bus sled and heated by a kerosene heater pulled by
a white horse to the Lake Linden school. Later the school district used a small panel truck to bring the
children." She remembered " Charles Heikkinen, father of Ruth, being the school custodian. Climbing
the steep hill on Old Colony road " to attend school in Calumet.” Arlene said she remembered the
"snow rollers" that packed the snow down along the country roads prior to advent of motorized truck
plows.
Anthony Kalcich said his father "Jacob was a copper miner and also worked the farm in Traprock in
1924" while living in a Calumet boarding house. The main Kalcich farm adjoined the Traprock school
property. Kalcich children were Jake, Catherine, Rudy, Margaret, Joseph, John, Peter, Julia, and
Anthony. He said "... all the kids attended the valley school and William Mattila drove a horse drawn
school sled”. Tony attended the one-room school in 1929 until eighth grade. He remembered when
“…Koskela drove his paneled diary truck with his kids plus Kalcich’s to Lake Linden”. Tony also
remembered the Seivi school and teachers Dewig Kalokoski, Lily Lindgren, and Charlotte Hiltunen
Peterson. Superintendent Bettins came from Calumet to give 8th grade tests/exams.
The Traprock Valley School House might have been lost to time but for the efforts of many dedicated people. We have
the generous contributions of time, effort and money to thank, not only for the preservation of the School House, but
also for the restoration and operation of the Railroad, the Museum, and the Heritage Center. This generosity has
provided for the collection and preservation of many pieces of our local history.
Thank you all for your membership in the Historical Society, and your contributions to help us continue our preservation
work.
Houghton County Historical Society
PO Box 127
Lake Linden MI 49945
The mission of the Houghton County Historical
Society is to preserve, present, and interpret
the history and culture of the Copper Country
of Michigan, with emphasis on Houghton
County and copper mining, processing and
transportation.
The Society will pursue this mission through
cooperation, collaboration and participation
with the community at large as well as other
historical groups.
Houghton County Historical Society Board
Members
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
John Berry
Kristy Walden
Gerald Perreault
Nancy Parker
Trustees:
Brian Keeney
David Parker
Pam Hawley
Jeffrey Dennis
Herb Leopold
Houghton County Historical Society Online
We have spent time over the last few months updating our presence online. Check out our new website design – easily accessible
from PC, tablet or phone. Then, like us on Facebook and Instagram!
On the web at www.houghtonhistory.org
Facebook.com/houghtonhistory
Instagram.com/houghtonhistory
This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.