1908-09

1908-1910

Copper Country Hockey History, choose time...

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1908-1910

1908 In 1908, Professional hockey became legal in Canada; the Ontario Professional Hockey League and the Manitoba Hockey League were formed. Many of the IHL players moved back to Canada to play in these professional Leagues. Hockey continues to be the main sport of choice for many adults and boys and girls of all ages year around here in the Copper Country. My own son, when interviewed by the local newspaper when he was just 4 years old, was asked how long he had been playing hockey; and he said, as he skated away with the puck: " all my life"!!

1909 The Glaciadome, a large covered ice rink and summer fair building, was built in Mohawk, North of Calumet, just SE of the present site of the Mohawk Elementary School. In early 1908, a corporation had been formed to construct the Glaciadome, they showed a capitalization of $10,000 with construction expenses running over $7,000. They were to "construct, own, and operate upon land purchased, leased, or otherwise acquired , a building or buildings to be used as an ice and roller skating rink; to rent or lease the same from time to time; to charge for admission into the same; to own and operate such other buildings and grounds for the carrying on of athletic sports as may from time to time be deemed expedient, and in general, to encourage athletic sports by providing proper places for carrying on the same." The building was built by workmen from the Mohawk Mining Company. The Glaciadome was named by the former Alice Getchell with the meaning being the rink was an ice palace and so it was a "glacier" of ice; dome was added to the name to indicate it was enclosed. The rink surface was 72 x 158 feet. The first manager was James A. Daley. The Mohawk Glaciadom senior team won the Copper Country Senior Championship for two years in 1910 and 1911. From 1912-1920, the Keweenaw County Fair was held in the Glaciadome in the summer. In 1911, Mr. F.H. Getchell and James A. Daley planted a 500 square feet bed of mushrooms in the building as an experiment resulting in a successful crop by Fall.

Glaciadome in Mohawk, Michigan

The upper story of the Glaciadome once housed bowling alleys. The bowling alleys were removed to a building on Sixth Street. The interior was remodeled by Glaciadome manager John B. "Happy Jack" Betzing constructing a canteen and two change rooms on the lower floor and the upper story was converted into a ball room for dancing. The Keweenaw Band played there many times. The building closed in 1931 due to depressed economic conditions. After sitting unused for six years, the back portion of the roof caved in after a heavy snowfall in the winter of 1937-38. The following spring, the rest of the building was torn down and sold for the scrap wood.

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