The Lonely & Empty Streets of Ahmeek, Keweenaw Peninsula

A number of years ago, I was up in the Keweenaw Peninsula, taking kind of a “ghost town tour”. During the trip, I stopped in the little town of Ahmeek.

According to the 2010 census, only 146 people resided in Ahmeek, making this an unofficial ghost town...and looking at the pictures, it sure looks like one.

What I noticed when I was there (and what you'll see in the pictures below) were the deserted streets. The downtown area - what there is of it - had no people, no vehicles, no activity. It was even hard to find a still-operating business. The whole town is seen as one big empty square block, looking at it from an aerial view.

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The name "Ahmeek" is a word taken from the Chippewa term, "amik," which means "beaver" and was given that name thanks to the huge number of wild beavers in the area. And, as small as it is (only 0.07 square miles total), it is the ONLY incorporated town in Keweenaw County.

Ahmeek was founded in 1904 by John Bosch as a mining town and station on the Mineral Range Railroad and grew rapidly. A post office opened in 1909 and became incorporated as a village that same year.

Thanks to the Copper County Strike of 1913-1914, the town became a hotbed of violence: bombs, guns, stoning, fights, murder, beatings, dynamiting...so much so, that the police and militia had to be brought in. Nowadays, it's quiet and some of the old mines are still visible.

It's a drive to get there, but it's an interesting part of Michigan history. Ahmeek appears to be too big to be a ‘ghost town’ but the old & abandoned buildings plus the scarcity of people in town sure make it look that way.