By RANDY CROUCH

Journal Staff Writer

Marquette’s Lower Harbor is home to possibly the most iconic structure in the entire area: the Ore Dock.

The Lower Harbor Ore Dock was built in 1931 by the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad. Its original construction cost $1,350,000, that’s over $20 million in today’s money.

The ore came to the dock via rail cars and was dumped into steel pockets or bins beneath the tracks.

It featured 148 ore pockets, which were used to load ore freighters.

To load the boat, the chute is lowered into an open cargo chute. A door at the bottom of the hatch opens allowing iron ore pellets to run into the boat.

Each chute could hold about 20 tons of ore.

The dock was operated for 40 years, during which time it changed hands from DSSA to the Soo Line, Wisconsin Central, and Canadian National Railroads before being decommissioned in 1971.

Around that time, a 22-year old airman from K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base died after falling down one of the 75-foot chutes, according to michiganrailroads.com.

The man was running along the railroad tracks on the top of the ore dock next to the ship-loading zone when he fell and was critically injured then later died.

Police said the airman climbed over a locked retainer fence and scaled the framework of the dock to get access to the top.

The connecting trestles were removed in 1978.

During its years of operation the structure was used to ship about 122,000 tons of ore.

The ore dock is 969 feet long, nearly 86 feet high, and nearly 68 feet wide.

It has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The inside of the ore dock is used in the city’s annual 4th of July fireworks these days and has been used as the background for the city’s laser light show.

The gigantic structure has long been one of Marquette’s most iconic and most visited landmarks.

Its image has been used to represent the region on countless marketing materials, tshirts, bumper stickers and pretty much anything else that is made in Marquette.