Iron County MRA
The Iron County MRA is a Multiple Resource Area addition to the National Register of Historic Places, which includes 72 separate structures and historic districts within Iron County, Michigan, United States of America. These properties were identified and placed on the Register in 1983, with the exception of one property that was placed on the Register in 1993.
History
Iron County, originally part of Marquette County, was first surveyed in 1851. At that time, the area was populated almost exclusively by Native Americans from the Menominee and Ojibwe tribes. Although the original 1851 survey of the county noted the presence of iron ore, European settlers began arriving in numbers in 1875, prospecting for iron ore. In 1880, two important ore strikes were made: the first was by John Armstrong, who opened the Crystal Falls Mine along the Paint River, and the second was by Donald C. MacKinnon, who opened the Iron River Mine along the Iron River. These two mines were the foundation of the two main population centers of the county, and the success of the mines brought more prospectors to the area, with 70 mines eventually producing ore in the county.Logging also began in the county in 1875, and lumber mills were soon another important contributor the area's economy. Railroads, particularly the Chicago and North Western Railway, extended lines into the county to service the expanding mines. Lines to both Iron River and Crystal Falls were completed in 1882, and both settlements expanded rapidly.
Separate townships for Iron River and Crystal Falls, still under the auspices of Marquette County, were created in 1882. However, there was much local sentiment for establishing a new county for the area, and in 1885 Iron County was split from Marquette County.
At the time of Iron County's creation, Iron River, then the only incorporated village in the county, was designated the county seat. However, a bitter dispute over the location of county buildings immediately erupted between the geographically disparate east side, centered on Crystal Falls, and the west side, centered on Iron River. The dispute lasted until 1889, when a county-wide general election designated Crystal Falls as the county seat.
By 1890, there were nearly 4500 people living in Iron County, supported primarily by the mining and timber industries. However, the Panic of 1893 caused a depression in iron prices that lead to the closing of nearly all iron mines in the county and a severe curtailing of lumbering activities. County residents turned to agriculture to support themselves. The economy of the area rebounded around the turn of the century as major mining companies, such as the M. A. Hanna Company and Pickands, Mather and Company bought up smaller mines in the area. Logging of hardwoods began in the county around the same time, and a long period of sustained growth stretched until the Great Depression.
The population of the county grew substantially during this time, reaching 20,805 in 1930. A great many of the newcomers were immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Poland, Scandinavia, Scotland, and Wales. New villages were platted, primarily to house mine workers, including Alpha, Mineral Hills, Caspian, and Gaastra. Iron River, Crystal Falls, and Stambaugh were all expanded. To serve the new residents, an electric street car line was installed in 1906, and a number of public schools were built.
The Great Depression ended Iron County's economic boom. Iron mining in the county was completely halted, and lumbering was substantially reduced, leaving thousands of workers unemployed. Several federal government projects were funded in the county, including the Cooks Run Trout Feeding Station, the Pentoga Park Office and Bathhouse, and various Civilian Conservation Corps projects crafted by workers at Camp Gibbs.
The mining industry was temporarily revived by World War II, but mining declined steadily in the postwar years, with few mines lasting into the 1960s and the last iron mine in the county closing in 1979. Lumber, however, has remained a substantial economic enterprise in the area, employing thousands of people until the present day.
County description
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. The terrain is generally hilly, with multiple moraines and small lakes, which overlay the iron ore deposits of the Menominee range. There are eight main population centers in Iron County, five on the west side of the county and three on the east. The west-side communities are Iron River, Stambaugh, Caspian, Gaastra, and Mineral Hills. These communities are all relatively closely located along the Iron River, and indeed both Stambaugh and Mineral Hills were merged into Iron River in 2000. The east side communities are Crystal Falls, the county seat; Alpha, six miles away; and Amasa, sixteen miles away. All of these save Amasa are strung out along US Highway 2, and both Stambaugh and Mineral Hills were merged into Iron River in 2000. Iron County also contains several small "Junctions," such as Beechwood, and mining locations, such as Mansfield, that consist of a handful of residences grouped together. The remainder of the county is primarily forested wilderness, with the western third of the county forming part of the Ottawa National Forest.MRA methodology
In the 1970s, a number of historic surveys and initiatives were undertaken in Iron County and the surrounding region. These included the 1972 Historic Site Inventory of Michigan's Western Upper Peninsula by Philip E. Metzger, a 1974-74 region-wide survey of historic properties by the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region, the 1977 inventory of historic Upper Peninsula engineering and industrial by Charles K. Hyde, and a comprehensive list of sites compiled by the Iron County Historical and Museum Society. In 1977, the Iron County Courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, the first such designation in the county. This was followed by several other structures in the county being listed in the Michigan State Register of Historic Sites.Late in 1977, a collaboration between the Iron County government and the Iron County Historical and Museum Society was begun for the purpose of nominating a Multiple Resource Area to the National Register. The previous surveys were combined as a basis for the MRA, and the sites were field surveyed in 1979/80. Historical research was performed over the next two years, and extensive revision took place in 1982/83.
Crystal Falls
In 1866, claims were filed on property along the Paint River where Crystal Falls now stands. However, no attempt was made to establish a permanent settlement until 1880, when Dr. D. M. Bond and Donald C. MacKinnon of Iron River opened the Paint River Mine. Nearly simultaneously, S. D. Hollister Sr. and George Runkel of nearby Florence, Wisconsin opened the Crystal Falls Mine. A sawmill was immediately opened, and other mines opened in the area, and by 1881, enough iron ore had been discovered that the Chicago and North Western Railway decided to extend their line from Florence to Crystal Falls.The line was completed in 1882, and Crystal Falls grew tremendously, going from four commercial structures in 1882, to twenty-five by 1884. Schools were established in 1882, and Crystal Falls was incorporated as a village in 1889, the same year it became the county seat. By 1890 the population was 3,231, and there were 27 saloons in the village. In 1891, the village constructed its own hydroelectric plant. The village became a city in 1899, and continued to expand, with new streetlights, sewers, and government buildings constructed in the first part of the 20th century. The growth halted with the onset of the Great Depression and shutdown of the mining industry, only briefly reviving after World War II.
There are seventeen structures and districts from Crystal Falls in this MRA. They are summarized below. One additional structure in Crystal Falls, the Iron County Courthouse, was placed on the NRHP separate from this MRA and is not included in the list below.
Frank W. Cole House
The Frank W. Cole House was an L-shaped frame house located at 121 Third Street. It was constructed circa 1899 for druggist Frank W. Cole. It had a simple, unpretentious, two-story design covered with clapboard; one gable end was covered with multi-patterned wooden shingles. In contrast, the open front porch featured unusual pierced square columns and an intricate frieze and porch railing.This house is missing and presumed demolished.
Courthouse Residential Historic District
The Courthouse Residential Historic District is a residential neighborhood roughly bounded by Crystal Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Iron Street, and 5th Street. It includes the Iron County Courthouse and most of the finest houses in Crystal Falls, built primarily at the peak of the mining and lumbering industries for mining officials, lumbermen, and other businessmen and professionals of Crystal City. The houses include Queen Anne, Colonial Revival American Craftsman/bungalow, and American Foursquare structures, as well as a Gothic Revival church, three school buildings, and the Queen Anne sheriff's residence and Art Deco jail near the courthouse.Crystal Falls Dam and Power Plant
The Crystal Falls Dam and Power Plant is a utility located on the Paint River off Powerplant Road. The section of the Paint River where the dam is now located was once a series of falls and rapids that gave Crystal Falls its name. In 1891, the village of Crystal Falls constructed the Crystal Falls dam and power plant, effectively submerging the rapids. In 1902–1903, a new power plant was constructed. The plant was expanded in 1907, and new generators were installed in 1914 and 1924. The plant was expanded several times, including a 1931 installation of a new concrete dam installed containing the rollway and tainter gates and a 1996 resurfacing of the spillway. The Crystal Falls Power Plant is still operational, and is likely the oldest hydro-electric plant still in operation in the Upper Peninsula. It provides roughly 1/3 of the power demanded by the residents of Crystal Falls.The Crystal Falls Power Plant is a two-story structure measuring approximately thirty feet by sixty feet with a hipped roof. The power plant is constructed of yellow brick with sandstone trim and sits on a concrete foundation. The adjacent concrete dam spanning the Paint River measures approximately seventy-five feet long and fifteen feet high, and has four spillway sections.