QUINCY SMELTER CLOSED...IN 1971!

In October the Quincy Smelter will have been closed for 42 years.  I was looking for some details regarding the closing on the web.   Couldn't find any details, except it closed that year.  But, I found an interesting website (more below).

What we tell visitors during our tours is that the Environmental Protection Agency closed the smelter because of pollution issues.  The EPA required everyone to leave and to not take anything from the smelter.  And it stayed locked up, permanently.  Through this accident of history, we now have an intact smelter to show visitors how our ancestors made copper during the Keweenaw's heyday.

Now to the website.  The individual was on the smelter grounds before the buildings were stabilized, primarily putting on new roofs and covering up the doors and glassless window openings.  This work was done by the National Park Service staff of the  Keewenaw National Historical Park and private contractors.

His website is called "Substreet.org  Guerilla HIstory, Photography and Urban Exploration".  What's different is he actually went up on the steel framework of the reverberatory furnace building.  Remember this is a building that has been deteriorating and the steel work is rusted from about four decades of neglect.  He climbs up and takes photos from about 30 feet above the floor.  Lucky for him and us!

Link: http://substreet.org/quincy-smelter/

REMEMBER: OUR LAST TOUR OF THE SEASON IS OCTOBER 12, 2013, 12-4 PM.  SEE THE PREVIOUS BLOG FOR DETAILS.