Iron County MRA
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Iron County MRA
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Clockwise from top left: Courthouse Residential Historic District, Crystal Falls Dam & Powerplant, Munro – M.A. Hanna Mining Company Office Building, Park City Historic District, Harvey Van Wagner House, Finnish and Swedish Mercantile Association Building
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| Location | Iron County, Michigan |
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| Coordinates | 46°6′0″N 88°30′0″W / 46.10000°N 88.50000°W |
| MPS | Iron County MRA |
| NRHP reference # | 83003659, 660, 662, 664, 665, 667, 671-676, 678, 680-682, 687, 689, 691, 692, 694, 696, 698, 699, 701, 703, 705, 707, 709, 711, 713, 714, 716-731, 734, 736, 737, 739, 740, 742-744, 746, 748-752, 759, 761, 762, 764, and 766-770; 93001408 |
| Added to NRHP | December 22 and 29, 1983; August 3, 1994 |
The Iron County MRA is a Multiple Resource Area addition to the National Register of Historic Places, which includes 72 separate structures and historic districts within Iron County, Michigan, United States of America. These properties were identified and placed on the Register in 1983, with the exception of one property that was placed on the Register in 1993.
Iron County, originally part of Marquette County, was first surveyed in 1851. At that time, the area was populated almost exclusively by Native Americans from the Menominee and Ojibwe tribes. Although the original 1851 survey of the county noted the presence of iron ore, European settlers began arriving in numbers in 1875, prospecting for iron ore. In 1880, two important ore strikes were made: the first was by John Armstrong, who opened the Crystal Falls Mine along the Paint River, and the second was by Donald C. MacKinnon, who opened the Iron River (or Riverton) Mine along the Iron River. These two mines were the foundation of the two main population centers of the county, and the success of the mines brought more prospectors to the area, with 70 mines eventually producing ore in the county.
Logging also began in the county in 1875, and lumber mills were soon another important contributor the area's economy. Railroads, particularly the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, extended lines into the county to service the expanding mines. Lines to both Iron River and Crystal Falls were completed in 1882, and both settlements expanded rapidly.
Separate townships for Iron River and Crystal Falls, still under the auspices of Marquette County, were created in 1882. However, there was much local sentiment for establishing a new county for the area, and in 1885 Iron County was split from Marquette County.
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