GWINN

Region: Marquette Range

By 1900 iron mining companies realized that clustering neighborhoods or "locations" around mine shafts could result in that land to sink, causing neighborhoods to be abandoned (this happened in Negaunee, Norway, and Ironwood) and perhaps even leading to accidental death and related lawsuits. So when the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company decided to open a mine in this area, it located the town away from any ore bodies.
Cleveland-Cliffs President William Gwinn Mather named the town after his mother, Elizabeth Lucy Gwinn, and took a special interest in its design. Gwinn was an outstanding example of corporate paternalism in a planned town.
In 1906 Mather commissioned Warren G. Manning to plan this very special company town. Manning had been a student of the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and had already become one of the most influential American landscape architects and city planners. (Mather used Manning on some 60 projects, including his country home outside Akron, Stan Hywet Hall, now a five-star day-trip destination.)

Son of a horticulturist, Manning advocated naturalistic "wild" landscapes that made use of existing plants on the site. He chose a beautiful setting for Gwinn, under big pines at the confluence of the East Branch and Middle Branch of the Escanaba River. The river broadened out after a charming little waterfall just upstream. Deep holes made for a fine swimming hole, still an attraction today. A Detroit paper called Gwinn "a verdant isle among the pines." A block of handsome, dark red brick, flat-roofed civic buildings framed the leafy village green and bandstand, now called Peter Nordeen Park. Across the entrance road at 111 N. Pine was the substantial brick store, now an attractive St. Vincent de Paul (906-346-5610). As the main street entered the residential area, it became a boulevard lined with a mixture of native trees, shrubs, and ground cover. Houses here still have picket fences.

Gwinn was a prominent model town, and its high school sports teams were—and, a hundred years later, still are—nicknamed the Model Towners. The heart of town was the Gwinn Clubhouse or community center, a gift from William Gwinn Mather that's still used today. It's on a hill at the head of Jasper Street, three blocks northeast of downtown. Mining companies wanted stable, sober workers with family values, and many invested in churches, libraries, and parks. Gwinn allowed no taverns at first, but soon four or so saloons sprang up in New Swanzy, half a mile to the east. A number of larger mining towns, and later Henry Ford's Dearborn, had community centers along the lines of the Gwinn Clubhouse. Gwinn's amenities seem unparalleled among Michigan mining towns. The top floor had a gym and meeting rooms. Next came more meeting rooms. The library and billiards room were on the first floor. A swimming pool, showers, bowling alley, skating rink, and tennis courts were in the basement. The Clubhouse recreation director planned activities for the whole community.

Gwinn's fortunes ebbed and flowed depending on the market for its ore. Cleveland-Cliffs pulled out of town in 1946. By then many wage-earners commuted to mining jobs in Negaunee. It wasn't long before K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base opened in 1955, greatly increasing the size of the school district. Sawyer's closure in 1995 brought a county-wide challenge to find new uses for the giant base.

Gwinn residents, especially the historical society, have worked to instill a new appreciation of their Model Town. The entire town is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Grant money has restored the boulevard plantings and re-landscaped Nordeen Park. A covered bridge crosses the river. A canoe access site is across the river by a mini-mart. A new canoe livery provides a spotting service that means canoeists could canoe the Escanaba River all the way to Boney Falls. Plans call for a bike trail connecting with a trail to Marquette. Much of the land south of town is state land, open to the public, dotted with lakes and crossed by streams. Summer residents are impressed with how attractive Gwinn is.

The FORSYTH TOWNSHIP HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM (906-346-5413) features changing exhibits on local history, not just Gwinn's but K.I. Sawyer's. It is on the second floor of the former bank building, now the Forsyth Township Office, at Pine and Flint across from the park. The museum faces Pine. Hours vary from year to year. They may be Tues-Fri noon-4. Call to confirm.

Return to Marquette Range

PLACES AROUND GWINN TO

Eat Sleep Camp