Gogebic County (pop. 16,427) is the westernmost county in Michigan. It borders Lake Superior and Wisconsin.
Pronounced “GO-gih-bick”
The name is derived from an Ojibwe word meaning “rock.” The county was a center of iron-ore mining beginning in the late 1880s.
Mining slowed by the 1930s.
The county seat of Gogebic County is Bessemer (pop. 1,914).
Gogebic County Courthouse (1888)
The Bessemer area has several downhill ski areas, including Big Powderhorn, Indianhead, and Blackjack.
400-foot vertical drop
Ironwood (pop. 5,387), the largest city in Gogebic County, is just seven miles from Bessemer.
The former railroad station in Ironwood, built in 1892, now houses the Ironwood Area Historical Society.
Copper Peak, north of Ironwood, has the highest ski jump in North America. It has been closed since 1994, but is now undergoing renovations for reopening.
Ironwood has the oldest continuously operating Carnegie Library in Michigan.
Built in 1901
Ironwood is the home of “The World’s Tallest Indian,” made of fiberglass and dating from 1964.
52 feet tall
Stormy Kromer caps are manufactured in Ironwood. Factory tours are available.
Lake Gogebic, partly in Ontonagon County, is the largest lake in the Upper Peninsula.
Lake Gogebic State Park
NEXT: IRON COUNTY
love the comment on copper peak. plus, i have a library in denver that looks suspiciously the same. oh, well. it probably is.
I didn’t know where Holden’s hat originated. Now I do. Thank you.