Ironwood Memorial Building

Visitors shouldn't miss looking in on this lavish 1923 Beaux Arts civic building for its stained glass, murals, original light fixtures, and exhibits of local history and memorabilia. An interesting display on the Gogebic Range's social history is upstairs. Ironwood city offices occupy the south wing; a much-used civic auditorium is on the north. Every Thursday evening, the auditorium is given over to bingo and refreshments, to benefit DOVE, a domestic violence program. The Friday-night American Legion fish fry is locally acclaimed.

The Memorial Building's main theme is the commemoration of local men who served in World War I. Ornate public buildings like this aren't uncommon on mining ranges because paternalistic mining companies encouraged them with donations. (The Peterson Auditorium at Ishpeming High School is one such showcase. Bob Dylan's high school in Hibbing, Minnesota, on the Mesabi Iron Range is another, from a later era.)

To get the Memorial Building's full effect, enter the central rotunda. Here scenic murals depict dairying, lumberjacks, pioneers, Jesuits, and a wide landscape of hills punctuated from east to west by the headframes of the Norrie, Ashland, Pabst, Aurora, and Newport mines.

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A tribute to World War I nurses, one of many striking stained glass windows in the building.

To the left a wall of bronze tablets lists 1,580 names of Gogebic soldiers killed in World War I - a chilling number of war deaths for such a small area. In the center are trophies from firefighters' competitions, very popular events in the early 20th century.

Go right and enter the auditorium lobby. Here a lunette over each of five doors is topped by a painting of a romanticized scene from an era of Ironwood history.

Back in the rotunda, go up the grand staircase to see stained-glass windows showing the Battle of the Argonne (part of the broader Meuse-Argonne battle), starting Sept. 28, 1918. It was WW I's first large American operation and the brutal war's final offense, led by Gen. John J. Pershing. Col. George Marshall planned it. He became the famous WWII general and then the leader of President Truman's European reconstruction, called "the Marshall Plan."
After the Battle of the Argonne victory, the Allies advanced on most of the Western Front. Germany signed the armistice on November 11. The stained-glass window shows airplanes flying above the French town. Shrapnel bursts in the streets, and heavy artillery fires come from camouflaged positions. Flanking the centerpiece World War I window, other windows show the attack on Fort Sumter that launched the Civil War, and the sinking of the Moro Castle in the Spanish-American War.
When you go up the stairs to the second floor, on your left some rooms have interesting panels on Ironwood history and the Memorial Building itself. They have been created by Ironwood Historical Society volunteers. Exhibits include prehistory, the fur-trading era, and the shifting Michigan-Wisconsin line in these states' early history. Illustrated vignettes of the colorful developers of the Gogebic Range, include the fabulously rich Marquette landlooker John Longyear, James Wood, Benjamin Moore, and influential Harvard geologist/anthropologist Raphael Pumpelly, "gentleman geologist of the Gilded Age," subject of many online articles.

Moore was led to the ore deposits that became Bessemer's Colby Mine by Richard Langford, a hermit living in a one-room shack near Lake Superior. Moore never paid Langford a cent, nor did he credit him with his "discovery" of the ore body. Moore was at the right place at the right time. He made multiple fortunes, in Bessemer, in Ashland Wisconsin, real estate, and in Hurley-area mining.

If you'd like a quick look at the auditorium or the elegant clubroom of the Ironwood Women's Club, ask downstairs at the city clerk's office. The private Ironwood Women's Club was entitled to space in this public building because it was a major benefactor in the Memorial Building's construction. Wives of mine managers, bankers, and other local leaders made up the club. In its clubroom, wing chairs, double-sided mahogany writing desks, and a silver tea service evoke an era when refinement was all-important in distinguishing a lady from the masses.

Like many women's clubs of the early 20th century, the Ironwood Women's Club functioned as a town improvement society and pioneered projects later taken on by government. Over the years the club lobbied for women's suffrage, established a milk and lunch program in the schools, and raised funds for the Bay Cliff camp for disabled children outside Marquette. The club also worked to get a female police officer and an advocate for women in court. It sponsored concerts and lyceum programs, plays and teen dances. One aspiring local artist of Finnish descent, Aare Lahti received a Women's Club scholarship to study in Europe. The clubroom features his mural illustrating some of the club's activities.

McLeod & Marquette, northwest corner. McLeod parallels Aurora a block to the south; Marquette is two blocks east of Suffolk/Business Route 2. Open 7:30 to 4 Mon-Fri. Wheelchair access: facing the main entrance, look to the left for a recessed entrance. An interior elevator leads to all floors.

Return to Ironwood

111 E. Aurora next to the Ironwood Theater. (906) 932-5002. Open 7 days a week, year-round, 10-5 Central Time. Wheelchair access: main level.
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100 W. McLeod at Lowell, a block south of Aurora's downtown block. (906) 932-5260. Mon-Fri 9:30-5, Sat to 4. Wheelchair accessible except for 2nd floor.
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