The Norrie Mine was one of the prominent mines at Ironwood.

I received a few historical pictures from Ironwood. I wanted to pass them along as it has been difficult for me to find pictures from the west end of the Upper Peninsula.  Above is the Norrie Mine. It was the first mine in Ironwood. Named after A. Lanfear Norrie, an explorer leading an expedition looking for iron, he found it. They sank a mine which was named after the discoverer and it became an extremely successful operation.

This old stereoview shows the view of Ironwood from the Norrie Mine.

Ironwood began as the camp for Norrie’s expedition. The foreman of the expedition was named Captain James Wood, nicknamed “Iron,” would receive the honor of the new settlement’s name, Ironwood. The town would soon prosper with mining operations springing up all around.

The view of Ironwood from the Ashland Mine. The city was growing quickly.

Ironwood grew fast. Looking closely at the photo above, several mine shafts can be seen on the horizon. The city is growing and the mines are running at full production. Almost all of the trees are gone. This was the beginning of what would be known as the Gogebic Iron Range. It would give life to communities all around, thriving off of iron mines. There were even attempts at gold and silver mining. Some did well with it while others did not.

This picture is titled “White Way” and shows downtown Ironwood at night in the early 1900s.

To this day Ironwood is a nice town to spend some time in. Much of it still has its turn of the century feel and remnants of its prosperous and historical past is represented all around.

Ironwood downtown today as the sun sets for evening.

Back to the homepage.