The Egyptian obelisks over an Ishpeming iron mine

An iron mine needs a headframe to raise ore and move people and equipment through its shaft. It does not need an architect. That is what makes the two pale concrete towers at Ishpeming’s Cliffs Shaft Mine so striking: they were industrial machinery designed to help the town look better.

The well-documented version is simpler. Because the mine occupied such a prominent spot, the company wanted its new shaft house to be pleasing as well as useful. Chicago architect George W. Maher designed two identical reinforced-concrete headframes in a Neo-Egyptian style. Built in 1919, each tapered like an obelisk. The documented structure measures 37 by 55 feet at its base and reaches 96 feet, 9 inches at the roof.

The mine beneath them was enormous. Exploration drilling began in 1877, ore was struck in July 1878, and the mine opened in 1879. It eventually reached about 1,358 feet deep and spread through roughly 65 miles of tunnels, making it one of Michigan’s largest iron mines. The A and B headframes were retired when the C shaft took over in 1955, and the mine closed in 1967.

The property was donated to the City of Ishpeming in 1998. Today the museum site includes the two obelisk-like headframes, the taller C-shaft headframe, mining equipment, ore cars, and exhibits about local mining. The city lists seasonal museum hours, so look at the current visitor page before you go. Even from outside, the old towers make their point: a hard-working mining town decided that necessary equipment could still have some grace.