Region 9:

Marquette Range

There's a special charm in the way the Marquette region offers both wilderness and relative sophistication. The natural environment here is extraordinary, featuring
♦ rugged forested hills
♦ two dozen waterfalls
♦ legendary trout steams
♦ uncrowded lakes
♦ long stretches of sandy beaches along Lake Superior
This is a land of striking, dark two-billion-year-old rock cliffs, among the most ancient surfaces on the globe. The rugged hills are eroded vestiges of towering mountains, once far higher than the Rockies. Today's terrain is mostly forested, interlaced with streams and lakes that have long been the delight of trout fishermen.

The larky Lakenlake sculpture park is on the highway just east of Marquette.

The area attracts those seeking beautiful unspoiled places to hike, bike, camp, canoe, kayak and fish in the summer, and ski, snowshoe, ice climb, snowmobile, and dogsled in the winter. Expanses of wild terrain with lakes and rivers begin right at Marquette's edge: to the north towards Big Bay, to the west (especially past Ishpeming), and to the south, where the upper reaches of the long Escanaba River challenge trout fishermen.

While other regions of the Upper Peninsula also have exceptional natural features, none compares with Marquette when it comes to good restaurants and interesting shops and galleries. From an upscale steakhouse like Elizabeth's Chop House to good Tex-Mex dining at the Border Grill, the number of outstanding restaurants keeps growing. There are enough downtown shops to make an enjoyable afternoon strolling along Front and Washington avenues. The city can even boast of one of the state's most memorable historic hotels, the beautifully renovated Landmark Inn, which also has fine restaurants and a terrific lounge with panoramic views on top.

Michigan State University

The orange area shows the extent of the iron deposits of the Marquette Range, from which huge amounts of iron ore continues to be mined.

History. Iron created the initial wealth that makes this region stand apart economically from the rest of the U.P. Marquette County is by far the Upper Peninsula's wealthiest. Its population of over 67,000 far outnumbers any of the other 14 U.P. counties, and the lead is growing.

In 1844 surveyor William Burt came across nearly pure iron deposits near Teal Lake, the big lake seen just north of U.S. 41 in Negaunee, eight miles west of Marquette. In the 1850s and 1860s, towns sprang up around iron mines—some 200—along the 45-mile-long Marquette Range of iron ore deposits. Through the 1870s, the Marquette Range was the richest known source of iron in the world.

With its Lake Superior harbor, Marquette became the ore's shipping port and the region's financial and commercial center. Iron, timber, and banking formed many great fortunes. That wealth is reflected in the city's eye-catching architecture, its many handsome downtown buildings, its striking 19th-century mansions just north of downtown on East Ridge Street, and today's wonderful modern homes perched above Lake Superior on Marquette Drive off US-41 south of downtown.

From 1850 to 1880 Marquette Range miners extracted a million tons a year of the highest-quality iron ore in the world. Ishpeming and Negaunee became big, bustling mining towns.

As the centers of U.P. iron mining moved west, energetic, politically savvy boosters got Marquette two important additional economic linchpins: the Upper Peninsula's first state prison (1889) and its normal school for teacher training (1899), which evolved into today's 9,000+-student Northern Michigan University.

After World War II, Marquette Range's underground mines started closing because of the high cost of mining ore. They were replaced by huge open-pit mines using new techniques to extract small percentages of low-grade ore from vast masses of rock. Two of these newer open-pit mines, the Empire and Tilden mines near Palmer south of Negaunee (see Tilden Mine Tour), are still going. The inactive open pit in Republic, four miles long, can be viewed any time.

Michigan State University

The vast open pit Empire Mine 2 miles south of Negaunee. Using enormous machines, Cleveland-Cliffs can extract over 8 million tons a year of low-grade iron ore.

The mines attracted an immigrant workforce. In 1892 92% of all Marquette Range miners were foreign-born. In 1900 Marquette County's foreign-born came mainly from Great Britain (23%, mostly Cornish), Finland (22%), Canada, especially French-Canadians (20%), and Sweden-Norway (18%). Finnish immigration peaked in 1910, while Italian immigrants flooded the area between 1900 and 1920.

Lumber camps were another important magnet for immigrants, especially French-Canadians. Native Americans, mostly Ojibwa, intermarried with Marquette-area pioneers and later arrivals. One of Marquette's richest men, Louis Kaufman, was proud of his Ojibwa ancestry. Today ethnic cultures, accents, homestyle cuisines, and genes have blended into a distinctive regional culture.

In Marquette the Episcopalians and Presbyterians were at the top of the social ladder. The Cornish Methodists were the cream of mining towns' society. The Finns, who over the years have added much to the current flavor of U.P. culture, were initially among the bottom of the heap socially. Though literate, they brought no mining skills. The pious "church Finns" were followed by those with more radical politics, the so-called "hall Finns."

Regional food specialties aren't only pasties, a Cornish introduction. A Marquette-area specialty is cudighi (pronounced "COULD-ih-GI"), a spicy Italian pork sausage patty served on a bun with tomato sauce. You can still get it today at Mama Mia's Restaurant (in Ishpeming ), Paesano's Pizza (in Negaunee ), Rodney's Pizzeria (in Gwinn ), Thristy Whale Bar & Grill (in Norway), Tino's Bar & Pizza (in Negaunee ), Vango's Pizza & Lounge (in Marquette )

By 1909 when this postcard was made, Marquette's impressive downtown of native red sandstone was already well established.

Scandinavians developed winter sports and introduced Heikki Luunta (HEY-kee LOON-tuh), the Finnish snow god, now part of the local culture.

The Cold War led to the development of K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base half an hour south of Marquette near Gwinn. With an enormous 2-mile-long runway to accommodate B-52s and air tankers, it grew in the 1960s to employ 7,300 people, becoming in effect the U.P.'s fourth largest city. The base generated 20% of the economy within a 50-mile radius, so its closing in 1995 was a blow to the region. But with surprising speed, the base metamorphosed into busy Sawyer International Airport and a tax-advantaged enterprise zone with a big variety of businesses in the former base facilities.

Marquette County employment has historically centered on the iron mines and on Marquette's big public institutions, from Northern Michigan University and the Marquette Branch Prison to state and federal agencies. But in terms of pure dollars, no other facility in the entire Upper Peninsula rivals the Marquette General Health System. It has grown astronomically in the past 40 years to employ 3,000, with a budget of over $300 million.

Heading west on US-41 from Marquette you pass many hillsides with big sheer rock outcrops like this, the eroded vestiges of ancient mountains.

Second-homeowners have been part of Marquette County's mix since the latte 1800s, when mining investors had summer homes in Marquette and the Huron Mountain Club outside Big Bay was built as a fishing and summer retreat for some of America's wealthiest industrialists. For glowing and detailed descriptions of the U.P. lifestyle geared to very wealthy people looking for premium waterfront property, check out the profusely illustrated web site of Huey Real Estate in Marquette, colorfully written by real estate broker/skier/angler Dick Huey.

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For everything from finding Marquette Range picnic spots & fishing guides to renting kayaks click here.

MARQUETTE RANGE: THE TOP ATTRACTIONS (to locate, see MAP)