Dickinson County (pop. 26,168) is south of Marquette County. The only other Dickinson counties are in Iowa and Kansas.

Dickinson is the newest county in Michigan. It was created in 1891 from parts of Marquette, Menominee, and Iron counties.

The county seat of Dickinson County is Iron Mountain (pop. 7,624). The Dickinson County Courthouse was built in 1896.

Romanesque style

The Immaculate Conception Church in Iron Mountain was built by Italian Catholics in 1902.

Italian Renaissance Revival style

The Millie Hill Bat Cave in Iron Mountain is an abandoned vertical iron mine. It has one of North America’s largest hibernating and breeding bat colonies, with up to a million bats.

They mainly emerge in April and September.

The Cornish Pumping Engine and Mining Museum in Iron Mountain has the largest steam-driven pumping engine ever built in the United States. It was designed to pump water from the Chapin Mine.

The museum was built around the pump.

The Pine Mountain Ski Jump is just outside of Iron Mountain.

Part of Pine Mountain Golf and Ski Resort

Steve Mariucci, former coach of the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit Lions, and Tom Izzo, longtime basketball coach at Michigan State University, were both born in Iron Mountain in 1955.

Three-sport teammates at Iron Mountain High School

In the city of Kingsford (pop. 5,133), the high school’s athletic teams are known as the Flivvers, in honor of the Ford Motor Company, which employed many local residents in its sawmill and parts plant.

A “Flivver” was a nickname for the Ford Model T.

The Iron Mountain Iron Mine in the unincorporated community of Vulcan offers regular tours.

Big John, the World’s Largest Miner

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