Fort Wilkins - Copper Harbor, MI
Posted by: 
linkys
N 47° 27.957 W 087° 51.873
16T E 434845 N 5257308
Historic U.S. military fort located in the Michigan Copper Country.
Waymark Code: WMCHH3
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 09/09/2011
Views: 4
When this fort was constructed in the fall of 1844, it was 600 miles from Detroit and reachable only by boat. The building of the fort coincided with the discovery of copper in the upper peninsula, resulting in the greatest mining rush seen in America up to that time.
Just two years later, it was abandoned, and then briefly garrisoned again in the late 1860s. Abandoned for decades, the fort became a state park in 1923. Today, Fort Wilkins is a well-preserved example of mid-19th-century army life on the northern frontier. Nineteen buildings survive, 12 of them original structures dating from the 1840s.
There numerous exhibits in the buildings, living history interpretation in the mid summer, all with the goal of helping visitors understand the daily routine of military service, experience the hardships and joys soldiers' families experienced and discover what life in another era was like.
For anyone visiting the copper country of the U.P., taking time to visit the fort is a most worthwhile experience as it helps one understand what took place here in the mid 19th century.
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