Calumet Township dates to 1864, and 61% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns · #55 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it
9 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 807 buildings between them. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1946 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1866.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Calumet Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calumet Township is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #55 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Calumet Township’s overall grade.
Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Calumet Township’s 1,292 sits above most of its state (100% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 816 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). Two sources give 1864.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Calumet Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Calumet StationlocaleCopper City StationlocaleKearsage Post Officepost officeKearsage StationlocaleKearsage StationlocaleLaurium Post Officepost officeLaurium StationlocaleOsceola Post Officepost officeOsceola StationlocaleRed Jacket MinemineRed Jacket Post Officepost office
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Calumet Township
HeclaSchoolcraft
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
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.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Calumet Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1946Ahmeek sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Calumet Township.
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.
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 Township’s page.
In 1864, according to Wikidata. Calumet Township’s post office opened in 1866, and the census of 1880 counted 2,140 people here.
How does Calumet Township rank for history?
Calumet Township is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns, #55 of 701 in Michigan. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Calumet Township?
9 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Calumet Theatre (listed 1971, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Calumet Downtown Historic District, the Calumet and Hecla Industrial District and the Laurium Historic District, with 807 contributing buildings. 816 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Calumet Township?
61% of Calumet Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1938.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (9), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
1881
