The largest ore dock in the world

Ashland, Wisconsin at one time had four ore docks, three of which were all wood structures, built in the late 1800s and removed long ago.. The last remaining ore dock was immense, and you can still see the pilings from the old wooden docks. My photos have been taken over a period of time, over various trips to Lake Superior.

For perspective, the light poles lining the top of the dock are 30 feet tall.

Before the demolition of the Central dock was finished in 2013, which left behind just the concrete base, the ore dock was 80 feet high, towering above Lake Superior and 59 feet wide and had four railroad tracks on it. It was said to have been the largest concrete structure of its kind in the world.The timber trestle approach was 1000 ft long. Iron ore, mined in the UP of Michigan was loaded into ore boats, the last one in 1965.

The first 900-foot section was built in1916 and was doubled in size in 1925.

Ore would arrive by train with each rail car having a door in its bottom to drop ore into one of the 300, 34 ft long chutes that would swing down to load the ore onto the waiting freighters.
Each railroad car held 50 to 70 tons of ore

The concrete is stained red from the dust of the iron iron ore.

Here is a plan for the new Ore Dock Park. I haven't been back there since the dock was demolished.