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C+History
History · Negaunee Township

Negaunee Township dates to 1858, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #503 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Most of Negaunee Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1986. Its Register listing is the Jackson Iron Company Site. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1870.

1858founded
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Negaunee Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Negaunee Township began

When was Negaunee Township founded?

1858

Negaunee Township dates its founding to 1858 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 2,559 in 18702020 census: 3,232168 years

How historic is Negaunee Township?

C+

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1866.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Negaunee Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Negaunee Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #503 of 701 in Michigan. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Negaunee Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1858, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.9% of homes (±2.6) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 3.1 per 10,000 residents · typical MI town 0.0 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 37%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 28%

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 Negaunee Township’s 3.1 sits above most of its state (72% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1858.

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 Negaunee Township’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 8,460 in 1910; 4,627 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Negaunee Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1860–1912.
★ What stands out · People over time

Negaunee Township, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 8,460

Peaked at 8,460 in 1910; 4,627 people lived here in 2020.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Morgan
1866–1877
Eagle Mills
1877–1912
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Eagle Mills
Gone or out of use
Eagle Mills Post Officepost officeJamros AirportairportMarquette County AirportairportMorgan Post Officepost officeMorgan StationlocalePine Hill Quarrymine
1cemetery inside Negaunee Township
Northland Chapel Gardens

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

By decade

Negaunee Township, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1870s5 items
Negaunee, MI1860Negaunee, MINegaunee, MI1860Negaunee, MIB.F. Nathan and party at Negaunee1867B.F. Nathan and party at NegauneeW.B. Ogden and party at Negaunee1867W.B. Ogden and party at NegauneeLake Angeline from mine, Negauneec. 1870Lake Angeline from mine, Negaunee
1890s5 items
Goose Lake, Michigan, near Negaunee1898Goose Lake, Michigan, near NegauneeGoose Lake, near Negaune, Mich1898Goose Lake, near Negaune, MichGoose Lake, near Negaune[e], Mich1898Goose Lake, near Negaune[e], MichGoose Lake, near Negaune, Mich1898Goose Lake, near Negaune, MichGoose Lake1898Goose Lake
1900s–1910s2 items
CarpRiverForgeMIc19071907CarpRiverForgeMIc1907Sundberg Block 19121912Sundberg Block 1912
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
Today5 recent
Newer depot Negaunee MI 20092009Newer depot Negaunee MI 2009Marquette and Western Railroad Negaunee Freight Depot Negaunee 20092009Marquette and Western Railroad Negaunee Freight Depot…Bus M-28 Negaunee CR 480 sign at Main Street2008Bus M-28 Negaunee CR 480 sign at Main StreetNegaunee City Hall2006Negaunee City HallMichigan 28 Business (Ishpeming) map2006Michigan 28 Business (Ishpeming) mapMap
The story

How Negaunee Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Negaunee Township.

Read it all →

The city was built after the discovery of the Marquette Iron Range during the early 19th century. The Jackson Mine was established in 1845 to mine the ore for shipment to iron forges; the first such forge to operate in the Lake Superior basin was set up in Negaunee during this period. In 1858, the community was given a post office. In 1865, Negaunee was incorporated as a village and reincorporated as a city in 1873. As mining operations expanded, many immigrants helped settle the area, bringing with them rich traditions that remain today. Due to extensive underground mining, roughly half the city was abandoned in the early 20th century due to risk of cave-in. The city closed its trolley system in 1927. The Jackson Mine ceased all operations within the city limits in the 1940s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Negaunee Township, 1858 to 1953

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858
    FoundingNegaunee Township is established
  3. 1860In the archiveNegaunee, MI
  4. 1866Post officeThe Morgan post office opens
  5. 1870In the archiveLake Angeline from mine, Negaunee
  6. 1877Post officeThe Morgan post office closes
  7. 1877Post officeThe Eagle Mills post office opens
  8. 1898In the archiveGoose Lake, Michigan, near Negaunee
  9. 20th century
  10. 1907In the archiveCarpRiverForgeMIc1907
  11. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 8,460
  12. 1912In the archiveSundberg Block 1912
  13. 1912Post officeThe Eagle Mills post office closes
  14. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
On the map

Negaunee Township on the map, 1953 to 1975

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

Negaunee Township on the 1953 USGS mapNegaunee Township on the 1975 USGS map1953Negaunee 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 Negaunee 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.

Negaunee, MI
Retake this viewNegaunee, MI, 1860

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Negaunee Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Negaunee Township

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Jackson Iron Company Site
Jackson Iron Company Site
Sites
Jackson Iron Company SiteSite

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

Help out

Finish Negaunee Township’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.
Retake an old viewNegaunee, MI: 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.

Marquette Township1 historic placeBIshpeming TownshipIts storyC+Negaunee5 historic placesARichmond TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSands TownshipIts storyD

Questions about Negaunee Township’s history

What year was Negaunee Township founded?

In 1858, according to Wikidata. Negaunee Township’s post office opened in 1866, and the census of 1870 counted 2,559 people here.

How does Negaunee Township rank for history?

Negaunee Township is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #503 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 Negaunee Township?

One place: the Jackson Iron Company Site (listed 1975).

How old are the homes in Negaunee Township?

4% of Negaunee Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 (7), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.