The Osceola Mine was a copper mine with 11 shafts located in Osceola Township, Houghton County, Michigan. In 1895, the mine was the site of the deadliest mine disaster in the Copper Country.

History

In 1873, the Osceola Mining Company began working on the Calumet Conglomerate. In 1877, the mine discovered the Osceola Amygdaloid. In 1879, the Osceola Mining Company merged with the Opechee Mining Company to create the Osceola Consolidated Mining Company.

In 1909, the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company took control of the company. The two companies merged in 1923. Calumet and Hecla operated the mine until 1931. The mine was reopened in the 1950s but permanently closed in 1968 because of a labor strike that caused Calumet and Hecla to stop operations.

Osceola Mine fire

On September 7, 1895, a fire occurred on level 27 in the No. 3 shaft of the Osceola Mine. The cause of the fire is unknown, but the large amount of timber in the mine made the fire more intense. Smoke later reached the No. 4 shaft, where most of the bodies were found. Thirty people died, including four boys, mainly because they inhaled smoke. This event became the most deadly mine accident in the Copper Country. When the fire was discovered, more than 200 miners were underground.