Station: Freda, MI

Freda was a location on Lake Superior which was the location of the Champion Mine stamping mill. The location was near the end of the Copper Range railroad Freda branch. The mill was in operation from 1899 to 1967.

Image info: The small train station in Freda with patrons posed in front.

Notes

The townsite of Freda was named after the daughter of William A. Paine, the President of the Copper Range Company. [HAL]

The COPR railroad had a frame shelter shed here for passengers, 12'x16' built in 1901. Freda also had a frame 16'x34' section house here. [ICCV]

Time Line

1903. November 17. Eugene Major, brakeman on the Copper Range railroad, fell from a freight train near Freda and broke his neck, death resulting instantly. He was 27 years old. [PHTH-1903-1117]

1933. The COPR had a telephone for employee use at Freda.

1971. Mining Railway Being Removed. The rails of the Copper Range branch line between Mill Mine Junction and Freda, a milling town are being removed.  Freda once was the location of the Champion Copper Mill, which crushed all Champion Mine rock for more than half a century. The Copper Range Railroad is a subsidiary of the Copper Range Co., which owns the White Pine Mines in Ontonagon County. [Escanaba Daily News, September 4, 1971]