Copper Country Explorer Field Guide No.7

In 1877 the Laurium Mining Company opened up shop upon a large swath of land just to the east of the great C&H Mine and the town of Red Jacket. The mine quickly discovered that there was no copper to be had within its holdings, but found the land itself to be extremely valuable as real estate. With the village of Red Jacket bursting at its seams, there was a high demand for land on which to build the homes and businesses the growing community desperately needed. The defunct mine seized the opportunity and platted up its lands into the village of Calumet - later to be renamed Laurium.While Laurium would develop its own commercial district, the adolescent village grew primarily as a residential suburb of Red Jacket. Cheap prices, large lots, and buffered space from the hustle and bustle of the mines attracted a great deal of middle to upper class citizens. Mine managers, captains, investors, and businessmen bought up large plots of land within the village and erected some of the largest and most opulent homes in the entire region. Such high class trappings gave Laurium a somewhat exaggerated reputation as the home to the Keweenaw's most rich and famous - a Victorian-age Beverly Hills of the Copper Country.