As early as 1902, Superior, Wis. rose to the spot of the third largest port in the United States as far as gross tonnage exports. She was number three only behind the Atlantic Ocean ports of New York and Philadelphia. Today, the city still has a large bulk cargo trade in coal, grain, iron ore, and many other commodities.
The starting coordinates for this cache are:
46 43.963
92 06.666
This will put you at the entrance to the coal terminal for the Superior Midwest Energy Company. Although this road is public, this coordinate is the furthest point on the road that is publicly accessible. From this location, you can see a huge coal pile to your left. Originally, Superior was a port that received large cargoes of coal as imports from eastern ports on the Great Lakes. This coal was brought in to fuel the steamship traffic through the port. In its heyday, coal companies included Berwind Coal, Lake Superior Coal and Iron, Philadelphia and Redding, M.A. Hanna, and Northern Coal Companies. Today, this flow of shipping has reversed. The coal comes into the port on trains from Montana and Wyoming and is put aboard ships that transport the cargoes East.
To decipher the coordinates for the next stage, look for the gate number on the fence to the right. Multiply this number by 64 = ABC
46 4B.47C
092 0B.CC4
This location takes you to an early grain elevator built in 1914. As indicated on the elevator, it is Grain Elevator M. Originally, there were multiple other grain elevators at this location labeled A through X. Many dock improvements have taken place over the past century, and the newer grain elevators are now much larger. You can still see the much smaller, and older, grain elevators closest to the water. Next to this, to your right, is the stone elevator for King Midas Flour, built in 1912. Both of these elevators are still in operation.
To decipher the final coordinates in this cache, count the number of silos on Grain Elevator M = DE
46 4E.985
92 0D.084
This final stage takes you to the remains of Northern Pacific Ore Dock No.1, formerly Burlington Northern, built in 1913. The success of the iron ore trade demanded an expansion of the Northern Pacific dock in both 1917 and 1925, to its current length of 1,860 feet. The dock shut down in 1970 when the primary type of ore exported by the company ran out. In the 1980’s, the rail line connected to the site was removed. Taconite continues to be exported from Superior at the BNSF Allouez Docks to the East of this location.
This cache was placed as a partnership between Wisconsin Historical Society, Superior Public Museums, University of Wisconsin-Superior Jim Dan Hill Library- Lake Superior Maritime Collection, Wisconsin Maritime Museum, and University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute. We hope you enjoyed learning about the bulk cargo trade in Superior. To learn more about Wisconsin’s maritime heritage please visit our other geocaches in the Superior area and across the state, or visit wisconsinshipwrecks.org and maritimetrails.org!