& Copper Country Historical Page
Copyright © 1996-2006
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The Lake Mine Area Structures
of the Keweenaw
The Contin house has a neat history. It was one of the original mining houses in the area. From what I remember, it was the mine's bookkeeper's residence. It was hauled from the minesite to town rolling on logs. The reason it is called the Contin house, is the last owner, Mr. Contin, died in that house. Purchased by Nick and Elma Lukkarila, Elma kept as many things of the old school building before they tore it down. One of the upstairs bedrooms is mocked up as a schoolroom with the old wooden desks and other memorabilia that she collected. (Related by Jay Lukkarila) The home appears just as it was constructed except for the front porch that was added in the early 20's. It has a kitchen, dining room and parlor downstairs and three bedrooms upstairs and no inside plumbing. Nearly 100 homes were moved in the Mass City area alone, as it was a common practice in the Keweenaw region. The homes were moved with a capstan anchored in place by four, three foot long pegs. The rope attached to the house was hitched to horses (and later tractors) and driven around the capstan until the home, rolling on logs, reached the capstan, which was usually 100 feet or so. The most time consuming task was moving the logs as the house rolled along. In the early days it could take weeks to move a house and people actually lived inside while being transported. There is one story of a girl who would go off to school in the morning and have to find where her house was when she got out of school in the afternoon. She did this for two weeks while the move was in progress. Another recalled going to visit a girlfriend and having the crew stop and raise a ladder to the door so she could go in and visit. When she had finished her visit the process was reversed, all the time the house was moving down the road.
Walter Lukkarila shows off a needlepoint from the 1893 Columbian World's Fair that was attended by a local Mass City resident and now is displayed at the Contin house. The stars on the left were displayed by families who had a son fighting in the Great War.
The North Lake Mine The next three photos are the remains of the Nouth Lake Mine Shaft-Rockhouse which was located south of Lake Mine off M-38.
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