Life of the S.S. Zenith City

December 13, 2025 / mikelbclassen / Leave a comment

This article contains never before seen photos of the Zenith City taken at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. They are part of the Mikel B. Classen Collection of Historical Pictures.

Edging into the Soo Locks is the S.S. Zenith City an ore freighter.

The S.S. Zenith City slowly makes its way into the Soo Locks.

The Zenith City was a classic freighter ship of its day. It sailed throughout the Great Lakes for many years, and was the longest ship of its day at 387 ft. Launched in 1895 in Chicago, the Zenith City traveled throughout the Great Lakes hauling iron ore back and forth.

The ship sailed without mishap until July 26, 1910, when it ran aground at Au Sable Point in Lake Superior. There was a thick fog and it hit Au Sable’s sandstone reef about a mile offshore. Fortunately, there wasn’t much damage and she was pulled off the reef and was able to resume well enough to get the ship somewhere it could be repaired. Several bottom plates had to be replaced, but it was soon back on the water on its way.

Zenith City sailed until 1946 when it became scrap after World War II.

The bow of the Zenith City at Sault Ste. Marie in 1910.

Six years later, the Zenith City sank. It was a storm near Hammond Bay in Lake Huron. There is very little information about the wreck other than it sank and was then recovered. The Zenith City sailed again.

It continued hauling ore until World War II. The Zenith City was sold to the U.S. War Shipping Administration along with six other ships in 1943. The Zenith City then spent its time taking supplies to the war effort in Europe. One year later the ship was laid up. It would remain there. It was sold for scrap in 1946. The Zenith City was no more. The only memories remain in pictures.

The S.S. Zenith City bridge at a closer angle.

A closer look at the bridge on the Zenith City going through the Soo Locks.

Historical Photos – Ironwood, Michigan

November 26, 2025 / mikelbclassen / Leave a comment

A nice colored linen postcard of the Norrie Mine

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.

A late 1800s view of Ironwood from a stereoview taken from the Norrie mine location.

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.

Historical Picture of Ironwood as viewed from the Ashland Mine.

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.

A night picture of Ironwood with old cars and lots of lights.

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.

Downtown Ironwood Michigan with the theater lights at sunset.

Ironwood downtown today as the sun sets for evening.

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Ironwood Michigan – Days Past – Historical Photos

February 27, 2024March 24, 2025 / mikelbclassen / Leave a comment

One of the many mines that were operating in Ironwood, MI.

This is a postcard from around 1900 of the Aurora Mine shaft F in Ironwood, MI.

Time to take a journey, a small look back at Ironwood in its heyday. Built on the Michigan / Wisconsin border in 1885, the area became known for its rich deposits of iron on what became known as the Gogebic Range. Mines sprang up all around Ironwood including the Norrie, Aurora, Ashland, Newport, and Pabst. Mining is not without its hazards.

Called the "man car," this dropped deep into the iron mines carrying miners to work.

Miners heading down deep into the mine shafts. They rode down sometime to nearly a mile underground. It could drop as fast as 1000 feet per minute.

In September of 1929, after unusually heavy rains, a portion of the Pabst Mine collapsed trapping 40 men. 3 men were killed when an elevator snapped, causing a rock collapse which trapped the others. A massive rescue operation began immediately. The only nourishment they had after their workday lunch ran out, was tea they made from birch bark scraped from the wooden planks lining the mine walls and heated with the miners’ carbide lamps. For five days they waited, while those on the surface frantically worked to reach the trapped miners. When they finally did, all of them were still alive. Over 5,000 residents gathered to watch the lucky miners emerge from the mine.

Ironwood football ahs been a staple of the community for 125 years.

This picture is of an Ironwood leatherhead football player. The only name I have for him is Ben.

Ironwood has always been a strong community. There are a large number of churches and always saw itself as an upright community, unlike its twin city on the Wisconsin side of the border, Hurley. The two towns are separated by the border and the Montreal River. In its early days Hurley was a dangerous town to be in, 60 saloons in one block, could lead to disaster at any time. Ironwood prided itself in being the opposite. Somehow the rough elements seemed to stay on the Wisconsin side of the river.

Ironwood had organized sports and schools that provided top notch educations. North Ironwood is the home of Gogebic Community College. Ironwood’s Luther Wright high school would the first built and to this day, the old high school is still educating an enrollment of 600 students.

Early historical photo of Ironwood, Michigan on Suffolk Street.

Early postcard view of Suffolk Street in Ironwood.

Because of the high producing iron mines, Ironwood was a prosperous town. Ironwood got its name, not because of the tree (Ironwood), but was named after one of the mining captains, James Wood. His nickname was “Iron”, so he was called Iron Wood. Many of Ironwood’s original buildings still stand and the remnants of the iron days stand as relics to its past. A tour around town can reveal many sites of Ironwood’s iron days of yore. It is a still thriving community that takes pride in its history.