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History · Calumet · established 1864

162 years of Calumet, in pictures

Postcards, papers and photographs of Calumet from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.

1864established
15old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Calumet’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Calumet’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Calumet’s homes were built before 1938.A town in old photos15 old photos, postcards and papers, 1880–1910.
★ What stands out · The story

How Calumet came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Calumet.

Read it all →

What is now Calumet was settled in 1864, originally under the name of Red Jacket, for a Native American Chief of the Seneca tribe. Until 1895 the name "Calumet" was used by the nearby town of Laurium, Michigan; present-day Calumet was not legally named so until 1929.

Red Jacket grew due to the copper mines in the area. It was incorporated as a town in 1867. The copper mines were particularly rich; the Boston-based Calumet and Hecla Mining Company produced more than half of the United States' copper from 1871 through 1880. In addition to copper mining and smelting, the region also supported the dairy industry and truck farming. Many immigrants (from Poland and other countries) settled there in the late 19th century.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Calumet, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s–1890s5 items
Calumet Stitched c19001880Calumet Stitched c1900 Calumet, Michigan panorama c19001880Calumet, Michigan panorama c1900 The Heart of the copper country1880The Heart of the copper country Calumet, Hecla & Red Jacket, Mich. - 18811881Calumet, Hecla & Red Jacket, Mich. - 1881 Just Up, Hecla Shaft No. 2, Calumet, Mich1898Just Up, Hecla Shaft No. 2, Calumet, Mich
1900s8 items
Tamarack no. 5, Calumet, Mich. c1900-1910c. 1900Tamarack no. 5, Calumet, Mich. c1900-1910 Tamarack # 51900Tamarack # 5 Hoisting engine, Tamarack No. 51900Hoisting engine, Tamarack No. 5 The Palestra1905The Palestra Calumet and hecla no 2c. 1906Calumet and hecla no 2 Fred Strike, Calumet Hockey Club1906Fred Strike, Calumet Hockey Club Just up, Hecla [i.e. Calumet and Hecla Mine] shaft No. 21906Just up, Hecla [i.e. Calumet and Hecla Mine] shaft No… Red Jacket shaft1906Red Jacket shaft
1910s2 items
CalumetHecla1910CalumetHecla Strike - Calumet, Mich1910Strike - Calumet, Mich
1920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Timeline

Calumet, 1864 to 1910

Woven from the archive, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1864
    FoundingCalumet is established
  3. 1880In the archiveCalumet Stitched c1900
  4. 1898In the archiveJust Up, Hecla Shaft No. 2, Calumet, Mich
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archiveTamarack no. 5, Calumet, Mich. c1900-1910
  7. 1910In the archiveCalumetHecla
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Calumet Stitched c1900
Retake this viewCalumet Stitched c1900, 1880

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Calumet’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Calumet’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCalumet Stitched c1900: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (5), Wikidata (3) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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