The Iron Mountain Central Historic District is a historic district, broadly located between Fleshiem and C Streets and between Iron Mountain and Stockbridge Avenues in Iron Mountain, Michigan. The district covers the city's central business district and adjacent areas. It is primarily commercial, but also contains the historic county courthouse complex, and school, library, and church buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.
History
A major iron ore deposit was discovered near what is now Iron Mountain in 1878/79; the first ore from the first area mine (the Chapin Mine) was produced in late 1879. Iron Mountain was first platted in December 1879 by Samuel M. and Isaac Stephenson and Joseph Flesheim; their platting encompassed what is now the northeast portion of the Central Historic District. Numerous other mines opened in the area, and workers began flooding in. Buildings appeared in Iron Mountain almost overnight, and in 1881 the Stephensons and Joseph Flesheim executed a second plat, extending the original one to the west. In 1882 they made a second addition, and other businessmen added plats so that by late 1883, the entirety of what is now the Central Historic District had been platted.
During the decade that followed, the population of Iron Mountain soared, to over 5000 in 1888 and over 8500 in 1890. Following the population boom, wooden commercial buildings sprang up along Stephenson Street, beginning at Fleishem and continuing south to C Street. Following a string of fires, in 1889 an ordinance was enacted to mandate masonry commercial buildings. A number of buildings were constructed in the late 1880s and early 1890s, including four large masonry structures in 1891.
As the 20th century turned, the population boom of the late 19th century had plateaued. The Panic of 1893 precipitated an industrial slowdown and a surge of unemployment in the local mines. Although the local economy recovered, the 1900 population was just over 9000, only a few hundred more than in 1890. The subsequent gradual decline of mining in the early twentieth century, with few new industries in the area to take its place, heralded a slow decline in population; by 1920 Iron Mountain again had a little more than 8500 people. Mirroring the general economic health of the city, only a few new buildings were constructed from 1900 to 1920.
With the onset of the 1920s, the local economy again boomed. Ford Motor Company constructed a sawmill and body plant in 1921–22, which employed 2200 people in 1923 and over 7000 in 1925. In addition, the surge in national automotive traffic and improvements in roads boosted the local tourism economy. By 1924, an additional 5000 people had moved into Iron Mountain. The boom in population again heralded a boom in construction in the downtown commercial district.
With the onset of the Great Depression, the economic fortunes of the area plummeted. In 1933, it was estimated that 85% of the local workforce was unemployed. While the economy slowly improved from this nadir, very few building projects were undertaken in the 1930s. After World War II, the economy again improved, despite the closing of the Ford plant in 1951 and the continuous decline in population of the city. A number of construction and renovation projects were undertaken in the two decades following the war.
As the district entered the latter years of the 20th century, it encountered a number of challenges, including new commercial development that occurred outside of the downtown area and several fires that destroyed buildings within the district. Nonetheless, the city has strongly supported the downtown area, including support for preservation and rehabilitation of the district's historic building stock.
Description The Iron Mountain Central Historic District encompasses Iron Mountain's downtown, along and adjacent to Stephenson Avenue (US-2), the main commercial street through the city. The district is irregularly shaped, covering the city's central business district and also extending to adjacent areas containing the historic county courthouse complex, and school, library, and church buildings. The district contains a total of 144 buildings, primarily dating from the early 1880s to the mid-1960s, but also including twelve newer structures.
Most of the buildings within the district have contained commercial establishments. As the district was the main business section of Iron Mountain for over a century, the business in it have varied across a wide spectrum. In the late 19th century, as the city was first built, the business district's buildings contained general stores, grocery and dry-goods stores, clothing and shoe stores, millineries, fruit and confectionery stores, jewelers, drug stores, hardware and lumber stores, furniture stores, butchers, bakeries, and blacksmiths. Businesses also included undertakers, livery stables, banks, barber shops, photographers, hotels, restaurants, saloons, and billiard parlors. in the early 20th century, different types of stores emerged, including department stores, book and stationery stores, sporting goods stores, paint and decorating stores, carpet stores, appliance stores, plumbing and heating businesses, laundries, auto garages and dealerships, gas stations, auto parts stores, movie houses, bowling alleys, and dance halls.
Many of the buildings in the area housed fraternal and service organizations on the upper floors, including the Masonic Temple, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Sons of St. George, Improved Order of Red Men, Scandinavian Aid and Fellowship Society, Knights of the Modern Maccabees, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), Ste. Jean Baptiste Society, Catholic Order of Foresters, Society Fraterlante, the National Protective League, and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elk. In addition to commercial establishments, the district also housed government buildings, including the county courthouse, city hall, and post office. Educational establishments in the district include the public junior high and high school, a Catholic school, and the public library (now a museum). The district also contains six churches and some single-family houses.
Older residential neighborhoods adjoin the district on the east, southeast, west, and southwest. A large tract of nearly vacant land, which once contained the Chapin Mine and related structures, abuts the district to the north.
Some of the most significant structures located within the Iron Mountain Central Historic District are listed below in the order of construction.
Unnamed store (535-537 Stephenson) This unnamed store, constructed c. 1883 for Richard Williams, is probably the oldest extant commercial building in Iron Mountain's downtown district. The earliest recorded use of the building was as a meat market; later it was used as a fruit and confectionery shop and a grocery. A narrow corner storefront addition (537) was built some time in the 1920s. The original building is a two-story false front gable-roof wooden building. It is now faced with modern siding. The 1920s addition is a single-story brick commercial building. In 2018, the south wall of the original building was painted with a mural that welcomes people into downtown Iron Mountain through the Power of Words Project. The mural features the Cornish Pump, Pine Mountain Ski Jump, and other local features.
German Hotel (407 Merritt) The German Hotel was constructed at some time between 1884 and 1888, probably for John Marsch and Fred Gothe. It housed a saloon and hotel; and was certainly run by Marsch and Gothe by 1892. In 1920, they sold the hotel to Anton Lovrich, who changed the name to the American Hotel and ran it until at least 1949. The hotel is a two-story wooden structure, now clad in diagonal wood siding on the first floor and narrow vinyl siding on the second. The front entry is edged with 1950s-looking random ashlar masonry, and the windows are modern; however, the basic shape of the building is still original.
John Russell Building (100 E. Brown) This building was constructed at some time between 1884 and 1888, and is first identified as a general store. In 1892, the store is identified as John Russell's general store. For some time, the upstairs was used by the Masonic Temple, and then in 1910 was used by R. F. Dundon's Actual Business College. Russell retired in 1924 and leased the first floor storefront to the Chalmers & Burns Confectionery, who occupied the space until 1937. In 1938, I. Zacks & Co. (Isadore Zacks and sons Max and Maurice), meat and fruit wholesalers, renovated and moved in. The rear addition was probably constructed at this time. In 1952, Zacks sold the building to Mose Cohodes & Son, a meat wholesaler, who used it until the 1980s.
The John Russell Building is a deep 2-story brick building, now with two small horizontal windows in the front below what seems to be the original storefront frieze. There are two widely separated square-head windows in the second story. Two more modern additions are located to the side and rear.
First Presbyterian Church (200 W. Brown) The Presbyterian Church in Iron Mountain was established in 1884, and this building was constructed for the congregation by early 1886 for about $3000. The congregation occupied this building until 1958, when they moved to a new church in Kingsford. It was then used as a welfare workshop, and as the Pine Mountain Baptist Chapel/Church. In 2000, it was purchased by Francie's Traditional Designs. On October 22, 2013, the building was severely damaged in a fire and was subsequently torn down. The area remains a vacant lot to this day.
The First Presbyterian Church is a wooden Late Victorian/Stick style structure with a cross-gable roof, a red sandstone foundation, and a pyramid-roof square tower with an open belfry. The clapboard exterior is subdivided vertically by applied stickwork and horizontally by a broad band of vertical boarding. The gables have stick- and pierced-work ornamentation, and the An enclosed front entry porch has more stickwork trimming. The original windows are still in place. The interior has original pine board floor and dark narrow beaded ceiling board in the gabled auditorium ceiling.
Chicago & North Western passenger depot (310 Stephenson) The Chicago & North Western railroad reached Iron Mountain in 1880, at which time a wooden passenger depot was constructed. This building, constructed in 1889, replaced the original passenger depot. It served as a passenger depot until the service was discontinued in about 1950. The railway sold the building in 1953, and in 1954 Bert Harvey's Sports Shop opened in the building. It has continued to house various commercial establishments.
The depot is a long, narrow, single-story building with walls faced with limestone on the lower portion and brick above. The roof has gable ends and overhangs substantially on each long side. A slant bay window projects from the midpoint of the side originally facing the tracks, with a large semi-octagonal dormer directly above.
Wood Sandstone Block (206-16 E. Ludington)
The block was built in 1891 for John R. Wood, president of the First National Bank. It was called the "Sandstone" block to differentiate it from Wood's large brick block that contained the bank. The building initially contained six stores on the ground floor, and the Dickinson County government offices on the floor above. It was renovated into a hotel in 1896, then in 1900 the city government purchased the building and used it for their city hall offices until 1994. As of 2020 the ground floor housed commercial space, and in 2020 the second floor was renovated into apartments.