NEGAUNEE –It was in 1865 that Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation became the agent for the Pittsburgh & Lake Angeline Iron Company, who operated the Lake Angeline Mine south of Ishpeming.

From 1905 to 1912 the company operated the Rolling Mill Mine south of Negaunee city. They operated a number of mines in Northern Michigan and opened The Tracy in Negaunee in 1950. Negaunee was also the site of the J & L Ore Research Laboratory where J & L centralized all of its ore research activities, from which have come important advancements in the technology of ore production. The ore research lab activity began in Negaunee in 1946, with the building of the laboratory.

It was 50 years ago, in January 1971, that Jones and Laughlin announced that it was permanently closing mining operations at the Tracy Mine. At that time, the Tracy was only one of three underground mines still operating in Michigan. The others were the Mather B in Negaunee and the Sherwood in Iron River.

Planned capacity operations at the Tracy were never reached due to blast furnace acceptance of sized ore and the recent developments of pellets. The ever rising costs of underground mining, coupled with the blending of ore from the Tracy and other J & L ores forced the closure of the mine. When the mine was closed the company had just sunk the shaft down 2,800 feet at a tremendous cost, which left ore never to be mined.

At the time of its closing, there were 275 people employed at the mine. At its peak production time, the Tracy employed about 400 men.

In its 20-year history the Tracy Mine had two fatalities. On May 28, 1953, Paul Mikolozicyh, of Vulcan, Michigan, and his partner, Eugene (Galliger) Larson, were hanging rails on the wall of a trench, when they were asked to hang one more. They knew it was not safe, but they followed orders and the whole wall fell on them. Mikolozicyh died of his injuries. Larson suffered multiple injuries.

On Aug. 20, 1953, Otterino Cato and an assistant noticed some loose rock in a point of pillar on the 14th level. They were barring the loose rock to make conditions safe when a large piece of rock let loose and struck Cato who was fatally injured. From May 1972 until May 1974, the facility was used as the Michigan State Police Post until the new post on U.S 41 opened.

Connor Lumber Company used it for a time when drying lumber. The cornerstones depicting mining, from the J & L Research lab can be seen at the front entrance to the Negaunee Historical Museum.