Freda, Michigan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Freda, Michigan
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The remains of the smokestack of the Champion Mill
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 Freda, Michigan
Location in Michigan
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| Country | United States |
| State | Michigan |
| County | Houghton |
| Township | Stanton |
| Elevation | 738 ft (225 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code(s) |
49905 (Atlantic Mine)
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| Area code(s) | 906 |
| FIPS code | 26-30440 |
| GNIS feature ID | 626444 |
Freda is a small, quiet place in Michigan. It's not a city or a town with its own government. Instead, it's an "unincorporated community." This means it's a group of homes and buildings that are part of a larger township. Freda is located about fifteen miles west of Houghton, in Stanton Township.
Freda's Early Days
Freda was a very important place for the copper industry in Michigan's Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This area is known as the Keweenaw Peninsula. A huge mill in Freda processed copper ore. Copper ore is rock that contains valuable copper metal. The town was named after the daughter of a man named William A. Paine.
Freda and a nearby place called Beacon Hill were owned by the Champion Mining Company. This company was part of a bigger group called Copper Range Consolidated. Freda was built mainly to support the Champion Copper Mill. This mill processed copper-filled rocks from the Champion Mines nearby. The Copper Range Railroad served the mill. It also carried passengers to and from the area. Freda even had its own post office from 1907 until 1964.
Freda Park: A Fun Place to Visit
Because Freda was on a main railroad line, it became a popular spot for holidays. The Freda Park opened in 1908. The Copper Range Railroad paid for the park entirely. It was known as the cleanest and best-kept park in the whole Copper Country.
However, people started using trains less and less. So, Freda Park closed on Labor Day in 1918. This made things harder for the Freda community. A newspaper article from 1966 said that only old newspapers and books would show how much fun people used to have there.
The closing of the park was just the start. The Champion mines eventually closed, and more people began using cars. This led to Freda's decline. The town depended completely on the railroad and the mining companies. So, its population quickly dropped. Freda did continue for a while after 1918. But it couldn't grow beyond the copper industry.
The Champion Mill
The Champion Mill was where copper-filled rocks from the Champion mines were processed. Here's how it worked:
- Trains would dump rocks full of copper into a special area.
- Giant machines called "stamps" would break these minerals into smaller pieces.
- Water from Lake Superior was added.
- Iron balls then crushed the pieces into a thick, muddy mixture.
- This mixture was about 40% copper or more!
This copper-rich mud was then sent by train to the Michigan Smelter near Houghton. At the smelter, the copper was melted down and shaped into bars called "ingots." These ingots were then shipped all over the world.
The Champion Mill was a huge part of Freda's identity. When it closed on November 4, 1967, Freda lost a lot of its purpose.
After the mill closed, a two-year project began to remove all valuable materials. All the machinery and pipes were taken out. Even the steel train tracks were removed because they were worth a lot of money. For example, a bridge in Beacon Hill alone had 310 tons of iron!
After the mill closed, the post office also shut down. Later, it became the Superior View Restaurant. This restaurant stayed open for 33 years but closed in 2006.
Images for kids
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The remains of the smokestack of the Champion Mill
