I recently took a trip up to Calumet, Michigan. Calumet is an old mining town on the Michigan peninsula, which is separated from the rest of Michigan. Calumet was founded in 1864, and, like so many cities in that region, named after a native American tribal leader. Calumet was originally called Red Jacket. Red Jacket was a tribal leader in the Seneca tribe.
The closest major airport to Calumet is Green Bay, Wisconsin, which is a little over four hours away from Calumet. I landed in Green Bay, rented a car and headed north towards Calumet. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, so as I traveled further north, their accents got further away from mine.
Calumet is is on the border with Canada, and they had distinct accents that were different than I have heard before. Every time I spoke, there tended to be a stare as they knew I was from nowhere near there. The population is very small, so everyone seemed to know each other.
Lake Superior is about a 20 minute drive from there. I drove over and saw a rundown lighthouse at the end of a rocky embankment leading in Lake Superior. I took my GoPro and decided to walk out to get footage of the light house. Once I got out to the end, I realized that beneath me there were open crevices that went directly into Lake Superior.
Once I realized this is more life threatening than I assumed it was, I froze up. I was at the end of the rocky embankment and had a long terrified walk back using only one hand due to holding the GoPro with the other. I ended up throwing the GoPro to another rock so I could use both hands. The GoPro fell immediately into the crevice and fell to the bottom of Lake Superior, never to be seen again.
I began to use my iPhone to take footage, which worked fine, but I really missed my GoPro that had traveled the country with me.
Calumet is an old mining town that mined for Copper during the second half of the nineteenth century. It has been dubbed the moniker Copper Town U.S.A. due to its rich history. Minors would live in the town when off duty from the mines.
It also has one of the first movie theaters that used moving pictures. It was build in 1900 and a site to see. The also have a museum on the history of firefighters that has firetrucks from the 1920s and 30s. It is awesome to see also. Unfortunately, those pics and video are on the GoPro at the bottom of Lake Superior.
The downtown area has not changed much since its founding. It is small and quaint. The buildings are straight out of an old western novel. I enjoyed walking through the town and felt I had gone back to 1864.
I enjoyed my trip to Calumet. Once I got past the stares from locals over my accent, I enjoyed the people and food in the town. If you go there make sure you eat the seafood. It is fresh and some of best I have ever had.
