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The Ashland Oredock
This unique base of the historic Soo Line Oredock, extending 1800′ (almost 1/4 mile) out into Lake Superior. A great place to recreate with an emphasis on public access along the full length of the dock. ADA compliant, accessible via the Ashland Rails to Trails (Waterfront) trail. Open to fishing and bird watching!

 

There were 300 pockets on the dock after it was lengthened in 1925 and each pocket held 350 tons of ore, 7 ore cars full to fill one pocket.

History of the Ashland Oredock
Built of concrete and steel, it was constructed by the Minneapolis, St Paul and Sault St Marie Railroad (the SOO Line) in 1915. It was the third such dock to be built in Ashland. The docks were built to transfer the iron ore mined in the Gogebic range of the Upper peninsula of Michigan and N.E. Wisconsin to the steel producing plants of the Eastern great lakes. The ore was bought to Ashland from the mines by rail and it was here that the ore was transferred to the great lakes ore boats. A train of railroad cars filled with ore was pushed on to the top of the dock and dumped its cargo into the 300 storage “pockets” underneath the rails. Ships would pull up alongside the dock and the ore would be loaded onto the vessel through the many chutes that you can see in the photographs. Because these pockets were located on each side of the pier, several ships could be filled at the same time.

The dock was built from 1916-1918 when the first ore was shipped from it. The old #1 dock was then demolished in 1919.

When originally built the dock was 900 feet long and had a capacity of 52,000 tons of ore.  However, in 1925 it was doubled in length to 1800 feet long which saw its capacity increase to 110,000 tons.  At that time, it was the largest ore dock of its type in the country.
The rails that ran on the top of the dock are 80′ above the water level and to get to this height the trains loaded with ore had to travel along a long wooden trestle.

The last iron ore was transported from the Gogebic range in 1965 and the dock fell into disuse. But the dock provided shelter and an anchorage for other vessels and a great place to fish from for the locals.

The dock provided many jobs for the city in its heyday and even the school sports teams are known as the ‘Oredockers”.   In 2002 the city council designated the ore dock a city landmark.

In 2007 the Wisconsin Central (the latter day owners of the SOO Line) announced that they wished to demolish it as it was too much of a risk and liability.

In 2010 efforts to remove it continue to be held up by a couple of peregrine falcons.  The falcons built a nest at the site last year, and the Canadian National Railroad had to delay the demolition because the falcons are an endangered species. Over the winter, the state DNR agreed to let the railroad take steps to keep the falcons away. But they ended up moving their nest further out on the dock. Todd Naas of the DNR was not surprised the removal effort failed. The falcons are incubating eggs – and Naas said a plan to hatch the eggs at the Raptor Education Center in Antigo was rejected because the falcons would simply re-nest in the area.  Tthe DNR is allowed the railroad to remove those parts of the dock away from the nesting site.