On a foggy morning in 1984, a new road sign appeared between Houghton and Calumet:
‘End of Earth, 2 [Miles]
Houghton, 4 [Miles]’
While this sign may have only stayed up for a few hours, a legacy was started– a legacy that began as a simple prank on the incoming freshmen. Interviewed in 2020 for the Michigan Tech Magazine, MTU alumnus John Marchesi, ‘86 EE, and his friend Tim Cocciolone decided to up the antics from a prank held the previous year. Taking the time to measure official MDOT sign sizes, the pair went to Swift Hardware and placed the sign on US-41. A few hours later the sign disappeared. Wanting to locate their sign, they placed an ad in The Lode. This ad caught the attention of campus, as well as the sign’s captor, the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department, who contacted them to retrieve the sign. While it may not stand today, the sign is currently in the possession of local fraternity Theta Kappa Psi.
