Ore Dock Milestone Celebration Planned

Marquette’s Upper Harbor will be a point of celebration during the summer of 2012. Cliffs Natural Resources will celebrate the LS&I Marquette ore dock’s 100 year anniversary in July.  The ore dock, located at the Presque Isle upper harbor in has been in operation since 1912 – loading iron ore into Great Lakes’ freighters from Michigan’s iron mines.  

 

To celebrate the 100 year anniversary, Cliffs is working in conjunction with the Marquette Maritime Museum to have a tall ship visit Marquette this summer.  

 

On Friday, July 13, the U.S. Brig Niagara will sail into Marquette’s Presque Isle upper harbor for a ceremonial salute to the ore dock. The ship will then dock at the lower harbor for the weekend.  The Niagara is a replica of the relief flagship that won the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812.  

 

“This is a very unique opportunity to celebrate the centennial of the dock and also the bicentennial of the Flagship Niagara,” said Jennifer Huetter, Cliffs’ district manager, public affairs in Michigan. “Cliffs is pleased to be able to acknowledge the ore dock’s 100 years of operations milestone and include the public as part of the recognition.  A schedule will be announced as the event approaches and there will be opportunities for both Cliffs’employees and the general public to tour the Niagara.”  

 

The Marquette ore dock is 1,250 feet long and sits 75 feet above the water and has 100 ore loading pockets and chutes on each side.  The annual shipping capacity of the dock is estimated at 9.5 to 10 million tons per year.  The LS&I Railroad owns and operates the dock and is a part of Cliffs Natural Resources Michigan Operations.   The railroad and dock operations have a total employment of 134 people.