This architectural complex supported iron mining at the Montreal Mine #5 Shaft, the heart of the mining community known as Montreal Location. A huge native field stone building served as the company machine shop, where mining equipment could be repaired by electricians, carpenters, and welders. South of the machine shop, the hoist house contained engines that could raise a ten ton carload of ore every two minutes. Life at Montreal Location also centered on the Hamilton Club, built in 1918 by the Oglebay-Norton Mining Company as a recreational center for Montreal Company miners and their families, with a hardwood stage, pool tables, two bowling alleys, a barber shop, and soda fountain. It later burned down on the day of its 50th anniversary, leaving only a red brick ruin. The most imposing structure was the headframe of Montreal #5 Shaft, which towered almost 100 feet above the surrounding buildings beside the chimney still visible behind the machine shop. After the Montreal Mine, the grande dame of the Penokee Iron Range, could no longer compete with cheaper sources of iron ore, it closed in 1962, its buildings and machinery were auctioned off, and the great steel headframe was torn down for scrap.