This collection comprises research papers created and collected by Charles Stetter related to the Central Mine, its community, and related topics divided into 4 record series. The first series contains business related papers including stock certificates and copies of annual reports to shareholders detailing the Central Mine’s history from the mid 1850s until the mine’s closure in 1897. Also included are several copies of the mine’s surface workings from 1865 and 1897. Materials in reference to other mining companies (the North-Western Mining Company, the Frontenac Copper Company, and the Winthrop Mining Company) that operated in close proximity to the Central Mine are housed in a separate series.

Stetter’s research notes are contained within the collection along with other source material including newspaper clippings and copies of previous research and publications. Correspondence between Stetter and those who assisted him in his research detail Stetter’s efforts to collect information on the mine and its community.

The collection also includes biographical information regarding individuals with ties to the Central mine including the mine’s former superintendent, Thomas B. Dunstan. An additional record series contains materials related to the religious practices of the Central Mine community. Papers and publications concerning the preservation of the Central Mine’s Methodist church, with which Stetter was actively involved, are found with research notes about Bishop Frederic Baraga and his involvement in the establishment of a Catholic chapel at Central Mine.