Calumet Historic District

About this property

The Calumet Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District that encompasses most of the village of Calumet, Michigan. The district was designated in 1989 for the community's importance in the history of the region's copper mining industry. The district is roughly bounded by the Osceola Township line in the south; Osceola, Sixth, and Seventh Streets on the west; Pine, Elm, and Church Streets to the north; and the rear line of the lots east of Calumet Street on the east. The district additionally covers structures on Waterworks Street north of Pine Street to Calumet Lake and structures near and around Oak Street west of Seventh Street to Eleventh Street. The district covers most, but not all, of the village of Calumet, Michigan, as well as surrounding residential and industrial areas. The Calumet Historic District is roughly equivalent to the Calumet Unit of the Keweenaw National Historical Park. The district wholly includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, located along Fifth and Sixth Streets, and the Calumet and Hecla Industrial District, located west of Calumet Street. These districts are also NRHP-listed. In 1864, Edwin J. Hulbert discovered a copper-bearing lode, later named the "Calumet Conglomerate," running through what is now the Calumet Historic District. Hulbert, who immediately garnered investors, bought the property, and established the Hulbert Mining Company. The Hulbert Mining Company had two subsidiaries: the Calumet Mining Company, established in 1865, and the Hecla Mining Company, spun off the following year. Hulbert began mining operations in the area, but his inexperience resulted in low yields and frustrated his financial backers. In 1867, his investors replaced Hulbert with Alexander Agassiz. Under Agassiz's management, the Calumet and Hecla mines rapidly increased production, and by 1870 were producing over half of the United States' copper. In 1871, the Calumet and Hecla Mining Companies were consolidated, along with the Scott and Portland Mining Companies, to form the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. Agassiz was the president of the newly incorporated company, a position he held until his death in 1910. What is now the village of Calumet was settled when Hulbert began mining operations in 1864; it was originally under named "Red Jacket", after the Native American Chief of the Seneca tribe. Under newly elected Village President Joseph Asselin, the name was changed to "Calumet" in 1929. Calumet was incorporated as a town in 1867, and its fortunes grew as the nearby Calumet & Hecla Mining operations boomed. The exploitation of the Calumet conglomerate lode running through what is now the Calumet Historic District was probably the most important development in copper mining in the US between 1867 and 1884. The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, located in the district, produced over one-half of the nation's total copper during those years. Even as late as 1882, after the discovery of copper in the western US, Calumet and Hecla still produced 63 percent of the total copper mined in the US. Although Calumet and Hecla lost its domination of the copper market in the late 1880s as western copper mines increased production, they went on an aggressive program of consolidation, and by the early years of the twentieth they again competed with the large western mines.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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