Karen Secinaro of Iron Mountain Iron Mine
What's Mine is Yours
As general manager of the Iron Mountain Iron Mine, Karen Secinaro is carrying on the legacy of the family business and honoring the Upper Peninsula’s mining history
Born and raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Karen Secinaro is carrying on the legacy of her family’s business at Iron Mountain Iron Mine. The state historical site originally operated from the 1870s until 1945 and produced over 21 million tons of iron ore for steel mills throughout the Midwest.
The site became a tourist attraction in 1958 and has drawn visitors from around the globe to the U.P. to explore and learn about its mining history ever since. Guided tours take visitors 2,600 feet into the Iron Mountain Iron Mine's drifts and stopes – man-made underground cavities that were created by years of mining.
As general manager of the Iron Mountain Iron Mine since 2014, Karen is building on the legacy started by her father Eugene Carollo, his brother Albert, and business partner James Goulette, whose dream of drawing people to region and honoring the U.P.’s mining heritage lives on.
Where does your Michigan story begin?
I was born in Iron Mountain, Michigan. My whole family, my dad, we all were born here, and we've always been in the U.P. The only time I left was after I graduated from high school and went to college at the University of Montana in Missoula. I moved to Minneapolis for 10 years, but when I had my three children in two and a half years, I moved back home to be near my family.
You have family ties to the Iron Mountain Iron Mine attraction. What does it mean to you to continue that legacy?
My dad and uncle started off with three hotels around the area, and they were looking to do something to draw people to our area. They rediscovered this mine, and they opened it up back in 1958. My dad was a big part of the mine in the beginning, setting it all up, and then my uncle and his son were the ones that really ran this mine. Once my uncle passed, my cousin Dennis ran it for another five or eight years. When he wanted to retire, my dad said he wanted to keep it in the family. He bought my cousin out, and then he asked me if I wanted to run it. I’m honored to be the general manager. I love the mine. I love all the crystals as you walk in, and the history of the miners. Every night when I shut the door, it's like, ‘well, good night! See you tomorrow!’
What can visitors expect when they visit Iron Mountain Iron Mine?
We have a beautiful gift shop, and when visitors walk in, they are very surprised how big it is. We have the largest rock shop in the U.P., with lots of crystals and fossils. If you choose to go on a tour, you can get your ticket on site. We have excellent, qualified tour guides who share the history of the mine. We’re not a winter attraction, so our season runs from May to October and our two best months out of the whole year are July and August. There are some days where we are so busy that visitors will have to wait. I do not have any type of system at the moment where they can get a ticket ahead of time, but I'm hoping one of these days I can set up the software so visitors can prepurchase their tickets.
What does it mean to you to be a part of Michigan’s robust tourism industry?
I think it's wonderful, because our iron mine is very unique. And this is our heritage. The miners took 22 million tons of iron ore out of this mine to make steel to build our buildings. I think it's great for us to be able to show our young children today what our forefathers did for us, and everybody should come and see how hard they worked. This mine started in the late 1800s and there was no electricity, so this was all done by hand and candlelight on their helmets. Our big stope that we have, people can't believe how big that is. You get some people who ask, ‘well, was that there?’ No, that was not there – they mined it, they created that. It was originally solid rock!
What is it about the Dickinson County community and the U.P. in general that sets it apart from anywhere else?
It's clean, it's fresh, and it's breathtaking. You go outside and see all of the trees and it’s a ‘wow’ moment. In the summer here, the light glistens on the lakes and it's just gorgeous.