Eagle Harbor House / Eagle Harbor House

Built by the Eagle Harbor Mining Company in 1845, Eagle Harbor House opened to boarders and travelers in 1846, the beginning of the Keweenaw copper rush. It is the last remaining log building of the first four in Eagle Harbor. In 1852 German immigrant Charles Kunz purchased the inn, adding a blacksmith shop and warehouses. Kunz became Keweenaw County’s first sheriff in 1861. He owned the boardinghouse until his death in 1902. It was inherited by his nephew Thomas E. Parks. Although its economy was based primarily on copper mining, the Keweenaw Peninsula lured visitors with its natural beauty. Beginning in 1846, Eagle Harbor House provided safe lodging to businessmen, prospectors, and travelers. Thomas E. Parks, Keweenaw County sheriff from 1931 to 1936, owned the property from 1902 until 1944. J. C. Westlake purchased the business in 1946, and his son Fred operated it until 1973. Rehabilitation begun in 1995 restored many interior features.