Marquette, Michigan - The Way It Was: 1864-1930s

The city of Marquette in the Upper Peninsula is one of Michigan’s meccas. The city was founded in 1849 but was previously frequented by French missionaries, Native Americans, and fur trappers during the 1600s

By 1844, iron deposits were discovered a way west of Marquette at Teal Lake. The Marquette Iron Company was formed in 1849, marking the genesis of the city of Marquette.

Originally a village called New Worcester, the name was changed on August 21, 1850 to honor Father Jacques Marquette, the French Jesuit missionary who had already explored the area in the 1600s.

Get our free mobile app

Briefly, after the Marquette Iron Company did not succeed, another one took over and prospered: The Cleveland Iron Mining Company. With their success and economy, they had the village platted in 1854; it was incorporated as a village in 1859 and finally as a city in 1871.

Marquette’s Northern Michigan University is appealing to high school graduates in the lower Michigan mitten, thanks to its distance (away from parents) and the romanticism of the north, along Lake Superior with plenty of scenic sites.

Now take a journey into the past to see what Marquette looked like over 100 years ago!