Laurium

14
Dec

First National Bank

Calumet and Laurium are geographical close enough to be considered one town but were light years apart in terms of character. While Calumet consisted of miners, railroad workers and the like; Laurium housed the upper crust of the Copper Country. Here lived the shopkeepers, mine captains, railroad owners, and millionaires. While Calumet was surrounded by rows of small homogeneous mine houses built by mine companies; Laurium’s tree-lined streets consisted of victorian houses and expansive mansions built by renown architects and designers.

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15
Dec

Prosperity to Ruin

Laurium | Architecture (21) Comment

The prosperity of the Copper Country slowly died along with the industry that provided it, until the bottom fell out with the closing of C&H in the late ’60s. While some towns – such as Houghton and Hancock – were able to meek out a life for decades after this calamity other towns were not so lucky. Laurium was not so lucky.

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30
Mar

Pewabic and 3rd

Laurium | Then and Now | Architecture | House (4) Comment

Today we start another feature here at Explorer: Then and Now. While our exploration journals take a look at the past through the ruins that remain, and Copper Country Window takes a look at the area today, Then and Now will attempt to connect the two – past and present. We start off with a pair of Laurium icons that currently sit on the corner of Pewabic and 3rd. Both houses were probably built before the turn of the century and still stand today; although in a somewhat different configuration. Both are prime examples of the opulence that once define the village a class above the rest.

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