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The Ore
Docks of Ashland
by Edith
Mahnke
Today there is one ore dock gracing Ashland’s
waterfront. This was purported to be the largest dock in the world of its
kind when it was built. It was the last ore dock built on Chequamegon’s
shore. People often ask, “what preceded this?” Let’s take a look.
In 1884/1885, the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western
Railway built the first ore dock here. It stood 1405 feet in length, 46 feet
wide and 40 feet high. The trestle approach was 950 feet long. There were
234 pockets, 117 to a side. There were 4 tracks on this dock. It had a
capacity of 25,000 tons of ore. The contractor, C.C. Smith of LaCrosse, was
awarded the bid on Sept. 27, 1884. The dock was designed by L.J. Barr,
engineer. It took 7 thousand piles to form the dock basin, which was filled
solid from the bottom of the harbor to 19 inches above the high water mark.
The two and one half million feet of timber used to build the dock was
harvested around Chequamegon Bay and sawn at the Union Mill in Ashland. The
fill in the dock basin included 576,000 cubic feet or 4,500 cords of wood
and 10,000,000 pounds of rock. There was connection to the city water system
for fire safety, with fire hydrants and hose on top and bottom of the dock.
This dock was dismantled in 1936 beginning in March and ending in October.
1886/1887 saw the Wisconsin Central building its
original ore dock. The cost of this dock was $280,000.00. The dock was 1,400
feet in length with a 1,600 foot approach. It had 1,000 feet of hose
distributed in 10 hose boxes. There were also one day and one night
watchman. This dock was raised and rebuilt in approximately 1899 making it
1,900 feet long and 50 feet high. This dock burned to the water on
November 22,1902. This dock had two railroad tracks on top.
1888 was the year Dock # 2 of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore
and Western Railway was completed. It was raised and remodeled in 1898
standing 1,668 feet long , 70 feet high, having 278 pockets with a capacity
of 55,600 tons. This dock burned on January 16, 1924, with Ironwood and
Superior fire departments called to help douse the fire. The rebuilding
began on January 23rd, 1924 to be shipping by May 1st
, the same year. Dock number two was dismantled in 1948.
1915/1916 saw the beginning of the current dock. The
Wisconsin Central had been bought out by the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault
Saint Marie Railroad (the Soo Line). This dock was designed by Toltz
Engineering Company of St. Paul, MN and built by General Contractors; Foley
Brothers and Peppard and Fulton of St. Paul. This dock is built of concrete
and steel. 900 feet in length with 150 pockets. It had a capacity of 52,500
tons. The timber trestle approach was 1,000 feet long. The dock was 65 feet
wide at the water line and 59 feet wide at the top. It was 80 feet high. It
had 6800 piles driven to support it, took two years to construct and had 4
tracks. A 900 foot addition was made to this concrete dock in 1925. It now
sported 314 pockets.
The Chicago, Northwestern Railway bought out the
Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway. They built a third dock in
1916/1917 with ore being shipped by June of 1917. It had 100 pockets per
side which were electric powered. The dock had a total capacity of 50,000
tons. The dock had 4 tracks. In September of 1920 a 1,000 foot addition was
announced. An additional 140 pockets, 70 per side, were added. It had a
total length of 2200 feet long, which included 1500 feet of dock and 700
feet of approach. It was 73 feet high. The 8,000 piles driven were supplied
by the Rust – Owen Lumber Company of Drummond, WI. Grand and Smith
Construction Co. of St Paul did the construction.
In 1916 Chicago, Northwestern Railway announced that a
fourth dock would be built but it never came to fruition. Beginning with
the 1957 ore season, all ore was shipped over the Soo Line concrete dock
under a pool arrangement. The C &NW dock #3 was dismantled soon after. The
last shipment of ore was in 1965. The iron ore era had come to an end for
Ashland.
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