Enduring Legacies: People of the 1926 Barnes-Hecker Mine Disaster

By: Mary V. Tippett, Troy Henderson - foreword

Narrated by: Rory Young

On November 3, 1926, catastrophe struck the Barnes-Hecker mine near the small town of Ishpeming in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. In less than fifteen minutes, the mine caved in when a torrent of mud, water and debris collapsed, taking the lives of fifty-one men. Forty-one men were never recovered. The accident was the worst iron ore mine disaster in the history of the State of Michigan, and indeed, the entire United States.

Enduring Legacies gives voice to descendants, family members and others connected with the tragedy—and provides salient facts sourced from mine records, contemporaneous news stories, and rare documents. People from seventeen states and five countries (including the U.S.) participated in this enduring gift to posterity.

©2025 Mary V. Tippett (P)2026 Mary V. Tippett