Iron Mountain, Michigan
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| Iron Mountain, Michigan | |
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| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| State | Michigan |
| County | Dickinson |
| Area | |
| - Total | 7.8 sq mi (20.2 km²) |
| - Land | 7.2 sq mi (18.6 km²) |
| - Water | 0.6 sq mi (1.6 km²) |
| Elevation | 1,138 ft (347 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| - Total | 8,154 |
| - Density | 1,132.6/sq mi (437.3/km²) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| - Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 49801, 49802, 49831 |
| Area code(s) | 906 |
| FIPS code | 26-40960[1] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0629079[2] |
Iron Mountain is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,154. It is the county seat of Dickinson County[3], in the state's Upper Peninsula.
Iron Mountain host a few points of interests such as the Millie Hill bat cave, The Cornish Pump, and is located adjacent to Pine Mountain ski jump/ski resort, one of the largest artificial ski jumps in the world.[4] It shares Woodward Avenue with the neighboring town, Kingsford. In addition, Iron Mountain is known for its pasties and Italian cuisine.
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[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.8 square miles (20.2 km²), of which, 7.2 square miles (18.6 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it (7.69%) is water.
Iron Mountain is located at
[edit] Highways
US 2
US 141 North merges with US 2 just east of the city. South it continues into Wisconsin.
M-95 connects with Kingsford just to the south and with M-69 east at Randville about 14 miles (23 km) north.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 8,154 people, 3,458 households, and 2,147 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,132.6 per square mile (437.3/km²). There were 3,819 housing units at an average density of 530.5/sq mi (204.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.67% White, 0.20% African American, 0.48% Native American, 0.66% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.07% of the population. 20.6% were of Italian, 14.0% German, 9.0% Swedish, 8.8% English, 8.8% French, 5.8% Finnish and 5.5% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 97.2% spoke English and 1.4% Italian as their first language.
There were 3,458 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.8% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the city the population was spread out with 25.1% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,526, and the median income for a family was $43,687. Males had a median income of $38,309 versus $22,533 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,918. About 9.4% of families and 10.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 10.5% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Iron Mountain aerial cable system
Iron Mountain has a network of encrypted low-powered UHF repeaters, similar in concept to the subscription television services implemented in larger markets in the 1970s and early-1980s. Part of this system:
- W43AN (//WLUK-TV)
- K47AF
- W56BF (//WGBA, ch. 57 move possible and recorded carrying same station)
- W59AQ
- W63AW (TNT)
- W65BN (TNN)
- W67AO (MTV/Disney Channel)
- K69BA (//WNMU)
[edit] Environmental importance
Iron Mountain's abandoned Millie Hill mine is home to one of the largest bat hibernacula in the Midwest. Roughly 25,000-50,000 bats make their winter home there.
[edit] Historical Importance
Iron Mountain was once a mining city when the Chapin Mine was up and running. The land that the Chapin Mine was formed on was discovered in 1879. It was discovered by two men, James John Hagerman and Dr. Nelson Powell Hulst. They had bought the land from a man from Niles, Michigan, Henry Chapin, hence the name of the mine. They began to sink shafts on the slope of Millie Hill. Then on July 5, 1879, Captain John Wicks and seven other men were sent into the forest with a wagon filled with tools to search for a place to set up camp. After numerous unsuccessful shafts the company was ready to shut down operation. Hagerman and Hulst had faith in the land and tried one more shaft. The shaft was 90 feet (27 m) deep and many months later, there was a successful hit that was at the heart of the iron ore. The original land was very swampy and filled with trees. To get rid of all this water the Chapin Mine Pumping Engine was created.
Iron Mountain is home of the largest steam engine in the world. The Chapin Mine Pumping Engine (Cornish Pump) was patterned after the ones used in Cornwall in the deep tin mines.
Edwin Reynolds, chief engineer for the E.P. Allis Company (now the Allis-Chalmers Co.) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, designed the steam engine in 1890. The engine's high pressure cylinder has a 50-inch (1,300 mm) bore, and the low pressure cylinder is 100 inches (2,500 mm) in diameter. The flywheel is 40 feet (12 m) in diameter, weighs 160 tons, and had an average speed of only 10 revolutions per minute. The drive shaft to the flywheel is 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter. The engine itself rises 54 feet (16 m) above the floor of the room. The designers estimate the weight to be 725 tons over all.
The pumping equipment utilized a reciprocating motion to a line of steel rods extending 1,500 feet (460 m) down into the mine, with eight pumps attached at intervals of 170 to 192 feet (59 m) along the rods. Each of the pumps forced the water to the next higher pump and finally out to the surface of the mine.
As the engine was designed to run slowly, the pumps had a capacity of over 300 gallons per stroke of the pistons. At ten revolutions per minute, this meant over 3,000 gallons of water poured out through a 28-inch (710 mm) pipe every minute. A total of 5,000,000 gallons of water could be removed from the mine each day. At that time the pump's estimated cost was nearly $250,000.
After only a few years of successful operation, the giant pumping facility was moved from the "D" shaft of the Chapin Mine. More than a million tons of the best grade ore found in the entire mine was discovered directly below the pump, so it was essential that it be moved for excavation. In 1898 the pump was dismantled and stored away until 1907 when it was reassembled on the "C" shaft of the Chapin Mine. The pump operated here until 1932 when the Chapin Mine permanently closed its doors. In 1934 the pumping engine was offered to the County of Dickinson as a relic for sightseers to visit. The pump remained exposed to the elements for nearly 50 years, and in 1982 a building was constructed around the pump by the Menominee Range Historical Foundation. Today the Cornish Pumping Engine & Mining Muesum exists on the site.
The Chapin Mine Pumping Engine (Cornish Pump) was designated as a National Historic Mechanical Engineering Monument by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers on June 6, 1987 and has been featured in the History Channel's Modern Marvels Series on the World's Biggest Machines.
[edit] Current and former residents of Iron Mountain
- Robert J. Flaherty, a filmmaker who directed and produced the first commercially successful feature length documentary film (Nanook of the North) in 1922.
- Tom Izzo, the men's basketball head coach for Michigan State University since 1995
- Steve Mariucci, former NFL head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions
[edit] References
- ^ a b American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Find a County. National Association of Counties. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Pine Mountain ski jump
[edit] External links
- City of Iron Mountain
- Exploring the North (Iron Mountain, Michigan)
- Exploring the North (Cornish Pump)
- Michigan Interactive (Cornish Pump)
- McCandless story has U.P. connection
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