Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1895.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Laurium’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Laurium is more historic than 91% 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 Laurium’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 Laurium’s 4,891 sits above most of its state (100% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 738 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 (±8.3 points). Two sources give 1877.
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 Laurium’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Until 1895, Laurium was known as "Calumet" (not to be confused with the present nearby town of Calumet, Michigan, which was known as "Red Jacket" until it adopted the name Calumet in 1929). In 1895 the legislature changed Calumet's name to Laurium, after the famous mining town in ancient Greece. Laurium is located in the center of the Copper Country, the first major copper mining region in the United States. It 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.
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.
In 1877, according to Wikidata. Laurium’s post office opened in 1895, and the census of 1890 counted 1,159 people here.
How does Laurium rank for history?
Laurium is more historic than 91% 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 Laurium?
67% of Laurium’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 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 (6), the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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