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White Pine, MichiganPhoto: Eóin · CC BY-SA 4.0
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History · White Pine

White Pine’s post office opened in 1954

Most of White Pine was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1963. Below: maps from 1949 on.

1954first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Eóin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How White Pine began

When was White Pine founded?

1954

The White Pine post office opened in 1954, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 33972 years
Founding year: the first White Pine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about White Pine’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of White Pine are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of White Pine’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start White Pine’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how White Pine’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How White Pine came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of White Pine.

Read it all →

It was a station on the Chicago, Minneapolis and St. Paul Railway. Thomas H. Wilcox, a mining engineer, found mass copper in the Mineral River and formed the White Pine Copper Company to mine it. The settlement was given a post office as "White Pine Mine" in June 1915.

The community of White Pine was listed as a newly-organized census-designated place for the 2010 census, meaning it now has officially defined boundaries and population statistics for the first time.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

White Pine on the map, 1949 to 1999

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

White Pine on the 1949 USGS mapWhite Pine on the 1956 USGS mapWhite Pine on the 1975 USGS mapWhite Pine on the 1999 USGS map1949Bergland NE 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 White Pine.

Famous people

Famous people close to White Pine

Nobody well known was born in White Pine itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
A
Al RossiAmerican rower · b. 1931
O
Otto BinderAmerican writer · b. 1911
J
Jay W. JohnsonAmerican politician · b. 1943
D
Dorothy G. PageAmerican mayor · b. 1921
D
Dan DobbekAmerican baseball player · b. 1934
H
Helge PukemaAmerican football player · b. 1917

Questions about White Pine’s history

What year was White Pine founded?

The White Pine post office opened in 1954, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.