Iron Cliffs Company
Iron Cliffs Company
501 W. Euclid Street, Ishpeming, MI 49849
The Iron Cliffs Company was established in 1865 by a group of New Yorkers including Samuel J. Tilden. They obtained property in Marquette County and opened their first mine, the Barnum Mine, in 1867. Two shaft, the “A” and “B” were sunk. The company obtained three more mine pits by 1870. In 1877, Iron Cliffs began exploratory drilling on this site overlooking Ishpeming. Drilling uncovered iron ore, and in 1879 the company opened the Cliffs Shaft, then known as the “New Barnum”. A new boiler house and engine house were built on the site in the early 1880s.
In 1888, the name was changed from “New Barnum” to the “Cliffs Shaft.” However, more changes were afoot: in 1891, the assets of the Iron Cliffs Company were merged with that of other iron companies in the area, including the Jackson Mine and the Cleveland Mine, to form the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, with William G. Mather as president of the merged company. A new dry was built after a disastrous fire in 1901. The original timber headframes over the A and B shafts were replaced with concrete headframes in 1919; a larger modern “C” shaft and headframe was built in 1955.
The mine was at one time the nation’s largest producer of hematite, and shipped ore every year but one from 1887 until its eventual close. Mining at this site continued until 1967, marking the end of underground iron mining in the area.
The Cliffs Shaft mine complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. It is commemorated by a Michigan Historical Marker. In 1998, the former owners of the mine donated the majority of the property of the Cliffs Shaft mine to the nonprofit group so that a museum could be created there. The museum opened in 1999.
strong>The Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum in Ishpeming is open June – October. Walk back in history, via the Ishpeming Historical Society room, to see local historical artifacts representing the local community during the great mining era. View historical displays of miners and mines past and present, headgear & other safety equipment available to miners of yesteryear, and displays on blasting and diamond drilling equipment. Stop in the Ishpeming Rock and Mineral Club’s room and view over 500 minerals from the local area, the Upper Peninsula, Midwest and the world. Take a guided tour of the tunnels that the miners walked to the base of the C-Shaft and listen to the history of mining from those who worked the mines. Follow up the stairs past old underground iron ore cars with a stop at the blacksmith shop. Go outside to view towers 97’ to 174’ high which were used to lower miners 1250’ into the bowels of the earth. Stand beside a 170-ton Iron Ore Truck with tires 12 feet high. Don’t forget your camera so you can have a memento of your visit standing inside the 30 ton shovel bucket in front of the Dry building or in front of the 170-ton Iron Ore truck.
The museum is located at 501 W. Euclid Street, Ishpeming.
Phone Number (906) 485-1882
Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum Mine Information Resource
All content the property of Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum, http://www.me.mtu.edu, Michigan State Housing Development Authority: Historic Sites Online, James Schuster (2002), Cliffs Shaft Mine 1867-1967 (100 Years), and others. Photo the property of Andrew Jameson