Dickinson County

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Dickinson County

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The Braumart Theater

The Braumart Theater was designed by Herbst & Kuenzli of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1924. The theater opened in 1925 and has provided entertainment of many kinds to the Iron Mountain area over the years. A group, Friends of the Braumart, is working to restore the theater so it can become a center for art to benefit the community.

Additional Information

The Braumart Theater is located on 104 E. B Street, Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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The Braumart Theater can be visited year round. For more information on the Braumart Theater, go to www.friendsofthebraumart.org.

Cornish Pump and Mining Museum

The Cornish Pump and Mining Museum houses the Cornish Pump, along with other mining equipment, and an exhibit on the Waco CG-4A Glider. The Cornish Pumping Engine is the largest steam-driven pumping engine built in the United States, and it was used at the Chapin Mine in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The Chapin Mine was discovered in 1879 and is now considered one of the greatest iron mines in the world. It was also one of the wettest mines ever worked because part of the iron to be mined was located under a cedar swamp. As the mine progressed deeper into the swamp, normal water pumps were not able to handle the amount of water that needed to be removed. In 1893, the Cornish Pump began operation. It was able to pump 3,400 gallons of water per minute, or 5,000,000 gallons each 24 hours. The mine finally closed in 1932, though large amounts of ore remain in the ground, they are too expensive to mine, and the pits filled with water. In the years between 1880 and 1932, the mine produced over 27 million tons of iron ore. The Museum also has an exhibit on the Waco CG-4A Glider. The Ford Motor Company in Kingsford, Michigan, built more Waco CG-4A Gliders for use during World War two than any other plant in North America. In 1942, the Ford Motor Company signed a contract to build 1,000 gliders for use during World War II. This Ford Company was converted from manufacturing wooden-sided station wagons since 1931 to producing these transport gliders. During the peak production time, the workers turned out eight gliders per day. By the end of the War, the Ford plant in Kingsford had manufactured 4,190 CG-4A gliders, more than twice the amount of gliders produced.

Additional Information

The Cornish Pump and Mining Museum is located at 300 Kent Street, Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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The Cornish Pump Museum is open from mid-May through mid-October. For more information on the Cornish Pumping Engine, the Chapin Mine, and the Waco EG-4A Gliders, go to www.exploringthenorth.com/iron/museum.html.

Dickinson County Courthouse and Jail

The Dickinson County Courthouse and Jail was built in 1896, shortly after the creation of Dickinson County in 1891. It was designed by a resident of Iron Mountain, J. E. Clancy, and was built by E. E. Grip and Co. in the Romanesque style. The jail was originally built with thirty-four cells for male prisoners along with two wards for female and juvenile prisoners. Apparently the county was prepared to deal with all sorts of rowdy miners and their families from all three of Michigan's largest iron mines, which were located in Iron Mountain.

Additional Information

The Dickinson County Courthouse is located at 705 S. Stephenson Ave., Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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The County Courthouse is open all year round. For more information on the Dickinson County Courthouse, go to www.dickinsoncountymi.gov/?courthouse.

Eskil Building

The Eskil Building was built in 1891 by Jorgen Johansen Eskil, a prominent photographer of the Menominee Range. Eskil used the top apartment of the building as his studio and built two warehouses beneath it. In its over one hundred years, the Eskil building has housed many different businesses and people, as well as survived three fires mostly intact. It is a very charming Victor.

Additional Information

The Eskil Building is located at 215 E. Hughitt Street, Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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The Eskil Building is open year round.

Immaculate Conception Church

Many Italian immigrants arrived to work in Iron Mountain's iron mines in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds. In 1890, many of the Italian Catholic families in the community organized the building of a church. That same year they built a frame church, but in 1893, the church burned down and was rebuilt. In 1902, a new parish priest came, Father Sinopoli, and within a few months he had organized a building committee for a new church. Within five months, a new church was built from the generous donations from the Italian families in the area, in monetary value, resources, time, and labor. Immaculate Conception Church, or Mary Most Holy Immaculate of Lourdes, was dedicated on January 1, 1903 and still stands today.

Additional Information

The Immaculate Conception Church is located at 506 E. Blaine St., Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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The Immaculate Conception Church is open year round to visitors. For more information on the Immaculate Conception Church, go to www.exploringthenorth.com/church/ic.html.

Iron Mountain Iron Mine

The Iron Mountain Iron Mine, also called the Big John Iron Mine, was in operation from the 1870s until 1945 and produced over 22 million tons of iron ore during that period. It is a deep shaft mine and was closed in 1945 because open-pit mining became more profitable. This mine was among the earliest on the Menominee Range and when iron ore was first mined at this site, the ore was very rich, over 70% iron. In 1956, the mine reopened and guided walking tours were started, taking tourists down into the mine, a train was later added to the mine, taking out much of the walking aspect of the earlier tours. The Iron Mountain Iron Mine is still open for tours during the summer months and provides visitors with the history of this particular mine and a good overview of miner's lives at the time the mine was operational.

Additional Information

The Iron Mountain Iron Mine is located at W4852 US Highway 2 in Vulcan, Michigan, nine miles east of Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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The Iron Mountain Iron Mine is open and giving tours from June 1st through October 15th. For more information on the Iron Mountain Iron Mine, go to www.ironmountainironmine.com.

Jake Menghini Historical Museum

The Jake Menghini Historical Museum is a small collection of buildings with displays set up like a small town. The displays include a grocery store, clothing store, dentist office, hardware store, jail, ice cream and creamery, funeral home, school and a church. There are also other displays set up in the mid-section of the museum, along with a small research center for visitors to research their genealogy.

Additional Information

The Jake Menghini Historical Museum is located at 105 O Dill Road, just west of Norway, Michigan, off of US Highway 2.
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The Menghini Museum is open Memorial Day through Labor Day on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays 1:00 - 4:00 pm. For more information on the Museum, go to https://www.norwaymuseum.org/.

Menominee Range Historical Museum

The building that houses the Menominee Range Historical Museum was built in 1901 from funds donated by Andrew Carnegie to create a library in Iron Mountain. The building which became known as the Carnegie Library was open to the public from 1902 through 1969, when the Dickinson County Library was opened. The building was opened as the Menominee Range Historical Museum three years later. The Museum contains many different exhibits and artifacts from the late 1800s and depicts the life of people who lived in the Menominee Iron Range area.

Additional Information

The Menominee Range Historical Museum is located at 300 E. Ludington Street, Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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The Menominee Range Museum is open from mid-May through mid-October. For more information on the Menominee Range Historical Museum go to, www.menomineemuseum.com.

Millie Mine and Bat Viewing Site

Millie Mine, an iron mine first built in 1880, is now abandoned by miners, but inhabited by millions of bats. When the mine closed, and was about to be filled in, but a Marquette firefighter stopped them because of the vast amount of bats which were living in the shaft. So, instead of filling in the mine, they covered it with a steel grate which allows the bats to fly in and out. The bats mostly use the mine for hibernating in the winter and for roosting in the summer, though some will only hibernate there. The best time to view the bats is in September and early October, and it has become quite the area attraction.

Additional Information

To arrive at the Bat Cave, take the East Side Cutoff from Third Street on the north end of Iron Mountain, or from downtown Iron Mountain, take A Street up the hill and turn left onto Park Avenue. There is a sign at the entrance and a parking lot not too far from the site.
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The Millie Mine is best visited during the summer months, but if you would like to view the bats emerging from the Mine, September and early October at dusk is the best time to visit. For more information on Millie Mine and Bat Viewing Site, go to www.dnr.state.mi.us/publications/pdfs/wildlife/viewingguide/up/07Bat/index.htm.

Norway Spring

Norway Spring is an artisan well which was created in 1903 by the Oliver Mining Company. The mining company was looking for iron ore and cut a hole 1094 feet into the earth. Instead of finding iron ore, they cut through 'several steeply dipping porous strata' which trap water at more northern elevations. The elevation differences cause the pressure, which causes the water to flow up out of the hole created by the mining company. The well has been providing fresh drinking water for anyone who stops since it was drilled in 1903.

Additional Information

Norway Spring is located just outside Norway, Michigan, on US Highway 2, on the way to Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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Norway Spring is open all year round, but it is best visited from late spring through the fall.

Pine Mountain Ski Jump

The Pine Mountain Ski Jump was built in 1938, at a height of 156 feet high. In 1977, the tower was made larger, to measure its current height of 176 feet high. Throughout its history, the ski jump has hosted competitions, both national and international, and still holds a competition every year in February. Ski jumpers come from all over the world to Pine Mountain, which is known throughout the world as one of the better ski jumping hills. Skiers fly off of the slide at around 55 miles per hour, and the current hill record was set in 2009 at 471 feet. A ski jump competition would be well worth the trip.

Additional Information

The Pine Mountain Ski Jump is located on 3330 Pine Mountain Road, Iron Mountain, Michigan.
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The Ski Jump can be visited all year round for viewing, but the very best time to visit is in February for the yearly ski jump competition. For more information on ski jump competitions at Pine Mountain Ski Jump, go to www.kiwanisskiclub.com.