Redridge Steel Dam
The Atlantic Mining Company was founded in the 1870s and operated near Houghton. The company had a stamp mill on Portage Lake, but when the government placed heavier restrictions on dumping stamp sands in the lake, the mining company built a new stamp mill on Lake Superior near the Salmon Trout River. A rail line was built to the site, and some buildings were constructed to house machinery and workers. To power the mill, they constructed a small timber dam on the river. The mill would be completed in the mid-1890s.
In 1901, the steel dam pictured here was built to replace the old timber one, as it had become insufficient. It was designed by J. F. Jackson and constructed by the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company. The rain line ran atop the dam, which created a unique scene that must have been powerful to witness in its day.
By the early 1900s, the Atlantic Mining Company would fold and become a subsidiary of the Copper Range Company. The mill would be abandoned by the mid-1910s and dismantled in the 1940s, but the remnants remain today.
After a dam failure and flood in the 1940s, the steel dam was rendered inoperable by the owners. This caused the water level of the Salmon Trout Creek Reservoir to fall dramatically, revealing the old wooden dam that had been built decades prior. That smaller dam remained intact and continued to hold back the water.
By the 1990s, Stanton Township owned the dam. In the coming years, local residents and state inspectors worried that that dam could fail. Considering Stanton Township had just 1,590 residents at the 2020 census, the local government didn’t have the funds to repair or replace the dam. Some minor changes have been made, and recent studies have shown it’s not likely to fail anytime soon.
Today, Redridge Steel Dam is a popular place for adventurers, urban explorers, graffiti artists, and people looking to fish. There’s a small pool below the dam, and you can walk on and around the century-plus-old piece of machinery. Continuing onward, you can reach the wooden dam that’s still intact and the Salmon Trout River Reservoir, which is a popular place to find people having bonfires at night.
The Redridge Steel Dam is a sight to behold, even if it hasn’t held water in a lifetime. It’s one of less than five dams of its kind ever built in the United States, and, at just 15 minutes outside Houghton, it’s well worth the drive.
