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AHistory
History · Lake Linden

Lake Linden’s post office opened in 1868, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 88% of U.S. towns. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1880.

1868first post office
3on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lake Linden’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lake Linden began

When was Lake Linden founded?

1868

The Lake Linden post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 2,610 in 18802020 census: 1,014158 years

How historic is Lake Linden?

A

More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lake Linden post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lake Linden’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Linden is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Linden’s overall grade.
Founding era1868, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194048.6% of homes (±5.5) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%A+National Register3 listings, 71 historic buildings, 696 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 88%
NewerOlder

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 Lake Linden’s 696 sits above most of its state (99% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 71 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 (±5.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (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 Lake Linden’s past

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

Then and nowOne place photographed years apart. Drag to compare.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1885 to 1917, drew every building in Lake Linden.Old housesHalf of Lake Linden’s homes were built before 1942.
★ What stands out · Then & now

The same spot, years apart

Drag across each photo to compare.

Joseph Bosch BuildingJoseph bosch1903Today
Joseph boschMatched from the two captions
Every building

Lake Linden, building by building, 1885–1917

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Lake Linden fire insurance map, 1885, sheet 11885Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Lake Linden came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lake Linden.

Read it all →

Lake Linden was named for an early settler. A fire destroyed most of Lake Linden in 1887.[1]

Lake Linden hosted minor league baseball from 1904 to 1906. The Lake Linden Lakers played as members of the Class C level Northern-Copper Country League and Copper Country Soo League.

Lake Linden was the site of a large plant to process the copper ore of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company. Calumet and Hecla shut down the operation in 1968.

A portion of the village was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Lake Linden Historic District in 2009.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lake Linden, 1900 to 1946

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1900In the archiveCalumet and Hecla smelters, Lake Linden, Mich
  3. 1916In the archivePouring Molten Copper into Ingot Molds, Calumet-Hecla Smelters
  4. 1946On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Lake Linden, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s7 items
Calumet and Hecla smelters, Lake Linden, Mich1900Calumet and Hecla smelters, Lake Linden, MichCalumet and Hecla smelters1900Calumet and Hecla smeltersJoseph bosch1903Joseph boschCalumet and Hecla stamp mill, Lake Linden, Michc. 1906Calumet and Hecla stamp mill, Lake Linden, MichCalumet and Hecla stamp mills, Lake Linden, Michc. 1906Calumet and Hecla stamp mills, Lake Linden, MichCalumet and Hecla stamp mills1906Calumet and Hecla stamp mills12,000 H.P. compound pump, Calumet and Hecla stamp mill190612,000 H.P. compound pump, Calumet and Hecla stamp mi…
1910s1 item
Pouring Molten Copper into Ingot Molds, Calumet-Hecla Smelters1916Pouring Molten Copper into Ingot Molds, Calumet-Hecla…
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
Date unknown1 to date
Calumet and Hecla Smelters (NBY 10235)Date?Calumet and Hecla Smelters (NBY 10235)
Today5 recent
Milkadamia Macadamia Milk2016Milkadamia Macadamia MilkLakeLindenMichiganSignM262010LakeLindenMichiganSignM26LakeLindenMichiganPostOfficeM262010LakeLindenMichiganPostOfficeM26Big Traverse Bay Historic District MI D2010Big Traverse Bay Historic District MI DBig Traverse Bay Historic District MI B2010Big Traverse Bay Historic District MI B
On the map

Lake Linden on the map, 1946 to 1975

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Linden. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lake Linden on the 1946 USGS mapLake Linden on the 1975 USGS map1946Laurium 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 Lake Linden.

On the National Register

3 listings protect 71 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
71
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Lake Linden, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,50018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,610

Between 1,007 and 2,610 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Linden’s Wikipedia page.

Help out

Finish Lake Linden’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.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewCalumet and Hecla smelters, Lake Linden…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Schoolcraft Township4 historic placesATorch Lake Township2 historic placesA−

Questions about Lake Linden’s history

What year was Lake Linden founded?

The Lake Linden post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Lake Linden rank for history?

Lake Linden is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in Lake Linden?

49% of Lake Linden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1942.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (10), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.