Laurium and Calumet - village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, Michigan, United States

Laurium and Calumet are villages in Keweenaw Peninsula. The centres of both towns are National Historic Sites.

Understand

Laurium was home to 1,900 people in 2019, and Calumet was home to 700 people.

Laurium and Calumet are in the center of the Copper Country, the first major copper mining region in the United States. Laurium was founded as a company town serving the Laurium copper mine, which later became part of the Calumet & Hecla mine. The town was generally home to the wealthier members of Keweenaw society, such as mine owners and captains. Although the mines have long since closed, the town still sports many large houses and mansions built by the wealthy mine owners. Today, many of the houses are participating locations in the Keweenaw National Historical Park.

Calumet also grew due to the copper mines in the area. It was incorporated as a town in 1867.

Get in

By plane

Houghton County Memorial Airport (IATA: CMX), in nearby Oneco, has limited scheduled service.

Get around

See

• Laurium Historic District, 47.237222°, -88.44°. The district is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is roughly bounded by Calumet Street on the west and south, Stable Street on the north, and North Florida and Isle Royale Streets on the east. This area contains the entire village of Laurium save two areas added in the 1970s. The vast majority of the structures in Laurium were constructed between 1880 and 1915, and the common architectural styles in the village reflect what was popular at the time. Probably the grandest of these is the Thomas H. Hoatson House (now known as the Laurium Manor Inn), a large Classical Revival style house. The most common houses are more modest in scale and ornamentation, with two-story front-gabled houses of predominantly frame construction being the most common. Most commercial structures are near the intersection of Hecla and Third Streets, including the J. Vivian, Jr. and Company Building. These buildings are often constructed of brick and/or sandstone.
• Calumet Downtown Historic District. 62 historic structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 2021-11-17
• Calumet Theatre. A theater and opera house which opened in 1900. With the closing of the mines, the theater became a movie theater and fell into general disrepair for many years. In 1975, the town began a large project to repair and restore the theater, which is now used for many local and touring productions. The theatre is on the National Register of Historic Places. 2021-11-17
• Calumet Visitor Center in the Union Building, 98 Fifth Street, Calumet, 47.244°, -88.452°. Three floors of interactive exhibits in an 1889 building on what life was like for people in this mining community from its establishment, through boom times, to the closure of the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company in 1968. 2021-11-17

Do

• Pasty Fest. A a one-day event that takes place every summer in downtown Calumet. The event celebrates the pasty, which was brought over by Cornish miners in the mid 1800s. The meat and vegetable "pie" became a staple for miners throughout the Upper Peninsula. The event includes a parade, street fair, live music, a pasty eating contest and a competition among restaurants for the best pasty. 2021-11-17

Buy

Eat

• Carmelitas, 618 Oak St, Calumet, +1 906 337-4025. M-F 11AM-10PM, Sa Su 8AM-10PM, closed M in the winter. Tex-Mex and southwestern grill. Mains $10-15, Steaks $22-27 2021-11-17
• The Hut Inn, 58540 Wolverine St #41, Calumet, +1 906-337-1133. Su-Th 11AM-9PM, F Sa 11AM-10PM. This long-time local favorite features pasties, famous burgers, large portions of pasta, and a variety of salads and sandwiches. 2021-11-17

Drink

• Gay Bar & Grill, 925 Lake St, Gay, +1 906-296-0951. Su-Th noon-9PM; F Sa 11AM-midnight. Yes, the local tavern in the village of Gay is called the Gay Bar, but no, it's not a gay bar. The Gay Bar is a hole-in-the-wall snowmobiler type of place. They sell t-shirts and shot glasses with logos. Pizzas, burgers, sandwiches and fish on the menu. Introduce the kids to the wonders of Italian cuisine with fine pasta dishes from Chef Boyardee heated up in the microwave oven. 2017-04-17

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