Location: Redridge, MI - Redridge Dam

The original Redridge Dam was a timber-crip built around 1892 by the Atlantic Mining Company on the Salmon-Trout River near Redridge. It was a timber crib filled with loose rock and dirt, 53 feet wide at the bottom and 28 feet wide at the top, 50 feet high. Timbers were 14" thick and hewed flat, connected with 1" drift bolts. The upstream face was lined with 4" plank and covered in 2" plank. There were two 24" drain pipes that were used to fill and drain the pond behind the dam as needed.

The dam was used to impound water to power the nearby Atlantic Mill. The water went to the stamp mill which was ½ mile away in launders that were 18" x 36". This new mill replaced the old Atlantic Mill on Portage Lake west of Houghton.

In 1901, a new unique steel dam was constructed by the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company across the Salmon Trout River, above the existing cribbed dam. It was built in a partnership between the Atlantic Mining Co. and the Baltic Mining Company. The dam was adjacent to the village of Redridge, which was town for workers at the Atlantic Mine mill. The dam provided water for the Atlantic and Baltic stamp mills on nearby Lake Superior.

Image info: An Atlantic & Lake Superior ore train heads over the dam-trestle heading back to Atlantic Mine, in the early 1990's. [CopperRange.org]

Notes

The Atlantic & Lake Superior railroad built a steel railroad trestle adjacent to the steel dam, to reach the new Baltic Mine.

The steel dam structure was built with steel I-beams and steel plates. The dam's central section ran 464 feet long and 74 feet high. The reservoir created was 150 acres. Large penstocks carried water to the two mills. [HAL]

Time Line

1911. July 17. The Copper Range railroad builds a steel span bridge at the spillway of the Redridge dam. Work will start in October. [CN-1911-0717] Editor's Note. This steel dam was likely built in 1901, when the Baltic Mill was constructed.

1985. The dam is designated as a Michigan Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. In 1992, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

1992. Ownership of the dam was transferred to Stanton Township.

2004. To make the dam safer, the upper 13 feet of the wooden structure was removed to bring the water level down and relieve some of the pressure.