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1955 Map of Ironwood

Name: 1955 Topographic Map of Ironwood
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1961
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1961

About this map

The Montreal River forms a jagged border between Michigan and Wisconsin, anchoring a landscape defined by the heavy industry of the Gogebic Range in the mid-1950s. The twin cities of Hurley and Ironwood dominate the central corridor, surrounded by numerous mining settlements like Jessieville, Norrie, and Aurora. Evidence of the region’s iron-ore heritage is everywhere, from mine dumps near Yale to the Old Colby Mine and Old Tilden Mine near Bessemer.

South of the urban centers, the terrain shifts into the dense timber of the Ottawa National Forest, where the massive Gile Flowage and smaller lakes like McDonald Lake and Obadash Lake dot the map. Local history is recorded in specific structures like the Sleight School, St Marys Cemetery, and the Ski Jump on Mt Zion. The infrastructure of the Chicago and North Western railroad illustrates the complex logistical network required to move ore from the mines to the regional markets.