Eagle River’s Transformation: Winter to Fall
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March 31, 2025
Welcome to Michigan’s Keweenaw County!
Pronounced “KEE-wə-naw,” the county is named for the Keweenaw Peninsula, a spur of land jutting 65 miles into Lake Superior from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (known as the “U.P.”). Because of its northern exposure, “The Keweenaw” bears the brunt of some of the worst winter weather in the United States. For example, the village of Calumet, Michigan, often measures over 300 inches of snowfall annually.
I’ve been to the U.P. many times, and I love it because it’s an entirely different place from one season to the next. In this post, I’ll first show you pictures taken during a March 2009 visit. Then, I’ll show you photos of the same spots in October, several years later. It’s like pictures of two different worlds.
On March 1, 2009, I started my activities by tracing U.S. Highway 41 to its northern terminus at Copper Harbor, Michigan. The “BEGIN Highway 41” sign peeks above a snowbank to tell us that Miami, Florida, is at U.S. 41’s southern end, 1990 miles away. The sign mentions the Isle Royale Ferry, which only operates during the summer. Isle Royale is an island in Lake Superior off the coast of the Keweenaw Peninsula; it makes up most of Isle Royale National Park.
U.S. Highway 41 in Keweenaw County resembles a path through the woods instead of a national highway. The road was snow-packed, with trees and five-foot high snowbanks instead of guard rails. From Copper Harbor, Highway 41 continues for 23 miles until it reaches the Keweenaw County seat of Eagle River. With a 2020 Census population of 65, the village of Eagle River is barely a town.
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon. Eagle River has a “Main Street” and a general store. But the store was closed. A red Toyota parked near the general store was covered with snow plowed from the street. A nearby footbridge over a creek leads to the Eagle River Lighthouse on the other side. The path was blocked by snowbanks.
Main Street leads down to the Lake Superior beachfront. Little dunes of sand covered the beach, and all the sand was snow-covered. Chunks of ice covered the waters below a whitish horizon, beyond which was nothingness. Looking down the street toward all this whiteness gives Eagle River an otherworldly feel, like it was the end of the earth.
It’s a clear day today. Still, the north wind is blowing off Lake Superior, and the wind chill is below zero. Lake-effect snow showers come with the winds. In the Keweenaw, you don’t need a weather front to get snow; all you need is a northerly wind.
The Keweenaw County Courthouse is perched atop a hill overlooking a few houses scattered below toward the lakeshore. The courthouse is a small, two-story wood building painted white with white pillars at its entrance. I can’t imagine any other county courthouse in Michigan being smaller.
In the cold, I had to stop and look around for a moment. It was so quiet. It was so cold. An old dog was chained across the street but couldn’t muster the strength to bark more than twice. Down the hill were a crowd of twenty deer digging in the snow for food.
Beyond the deer lay the frozen chunks of water in Lake Superior. Soon, these chunks will melt to become waves, and the Keweenaw will burst open as a summer resort. Today is March 1; February passed last night. Winter has made its final stop, and Spring is marching ahead.
I returned to Eagle River, Michigan, on October 4, 2021. My first visit had been at the end of winter, while this visit took place at the end of summer. The courthouse and the town were adorned with autumn leaves, starkly contrasting the snowbanks I had seen in March.
The first floor of the courthouse features five display cases. They contain local ore samples from old copper and iron mines on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Further down the hallway, two large pencil drawings of Presidents Washington and Lincoln hang from the walls.
(below left) A historical sign explains the history of Eagle River. (right) A well-kept home in town shows off some delicate wood trim on its front porch.
Just past the courthouse, I walked across the Eagle River Timber Arch Bridge and photographed Eagle River Falls.
Eagle River’s Main Street looks quite different after a long summer.
This is the Lake Superior shoreline in Eagle River. In the top right photo, a tanker ship (perhaps carrying iron ore?) can be seen on the distant horizon.
Click here to see a list of all posts in the TimManBlog American County Seats Series.
The photos in this post were taken on March 1, 2009 or October 4, 2021. All photos are copyrighted by Tim Seibel.
My hobby is attempting to visit all 3,150 of America’s county courthouses. Each month, I post about a visit to a scenic or historic county seat. Donations are greatly appreciated to help cover my costs.
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