NEGAUNEE — Today the west end of Negaunee is commonly called Old Town and rightfully so. It is where everything started. The west end is where the businesses began.

A fire on the west end of Iron Street in February of 1916 destroyed buildings that were constructed in between 1870, and 1890. When most people talk about Old Town they are referring to the area where the Jim Thomas Pavilion is, but one of the early settlements was near the Jackson Mine. People built their homes close to work.

The miners that first came here were from Cornwall, England and they homesteaded in the area that was known as Cornishtown. And not far from there was Swede Town and French Town. As the population began to expand we saw Merry Street, Snow Street, Cyr Street, Barn and Mann and Jennings Streets and Cleveland Avenue become home for many people.

Capt. Merry of the Jackson Mining Company built a home on Merry Street in the late 1800s and it was torn down in the late 1950s or thereabout. It was said that Captain Merry did not like winter and that he had a tunnel built from his home to the mine.

Of course, others questioned that but when it was turned into apartments a local resident said there was a door in the basement that was filled in with cement blocks. The Michigan State Police had its beginnings in Old Town in 1917. They were known as “The Constabulary.” The United States had declared war against Germany and her allies which left no men to guard the home front, so the state created an emergency force that established their post on the road to Cornishtown.

The troops arrived to relieve a threatening situation on the mining region where ore was needed for the war effort. Education became a necessity and the Jackson School bearing the name of the Jackson Mining Company was built on Snow Street.

It served as a school from 1871-1941. it began with grades 1-8 and kindergarten had not yet been introduced. Large box stoves heated the rooms and the water pail was a common drinking cup, with all the children drinking from the same ladle.

There were towels on a roller and at times it was hard to find a clean place to wipe your hands. Can you imagine how red that towel was with all the iron ore in the area? Of course in time changes were made and modern equipment was installed.

Churches that were going through remodeling phases often used the building as a place of worship. It became a youth center in the 1950’s until its demolition in the 1960s. A visit to this spot still has the rock wall and a “Ring Around the Rosie” monument, reminds people that children once occupied this space. The bell from the school has been preserved and is on display at the museum.

There wasn’t a church of Lutheran persuasion in Negaunee and it was decided that by combining Scandinavian people of Danish and Swedish descent a church could be built. In 1884, seven women assumed the task of inviting pastors from neighboring towns to conduct services.

In 1885, the Scandinavian Association was formed to provide a place of worship. The Scandinavian church on Cyr Street was dedicated in 1885. Donations of one hundred dollars came from Edward Breitung and fifty dollars from Capt. Merry representing the Jackson Mining Company and they also gave a deed to the property. In 1890 a parsonage was built. In 1969, the church and parsonage were moved to Cherry Street.

The altar rail was repurposed as a railing on the deck at the Oscar Kaesaman residence at Goose Lake. Also on Cyr Street was the Twin City hospital that was built by Doctor Burke from Palmer. Dr. George Knutson came to Negaunee as a young doctor and bought the hospital.

As hospital care became more modernized, patients began to use the Company Hospital in Ishpeming and Dr. Knutson operated the Twin City as a convalescent home. And when that area of town was being abandoned and the house moved out Dr. Knutson opened up the Palmer Nursing Home. Other businesses that once thrived in Old Town was a corner store on Iron and Tobin, owned by John Rolando and later purchased by Don LaFreniere, known as Don’s corner.

Don also had a furniture store that was moved to its location next to the Negaunee Brewery. John Violetta’s music store, the Viga bowling lanes, which burned down. Johnny Ghiardi’s grocery store and the Co-op, a grocery store which also served as the first Credit Union. Sawbridges hardware with the big kettle hanging outside letting people of different languages know that they sold household items.

The Dutch Gardens, a restaurant owned by the Adaminis and later purchased by Gurchinoffs that had the small nickelodeons in the booth where you could play your favorite songs. Last but not least tragedy also happened in Old Town. On June 6, 1953, Dale La freniere was six years old when he fell in an abandoned mine pit on the west end of Iron Street. It was across the street from the bowling alley.

He was with a friend who went to get help. They found Dale’s baseball cards and a set of toy handcuffs that he always carried with him in the water. It was believed that the cards fell into the pit and Dale tried to retrieve them.

The Negaunee Fire Department were the first to try a rescue but were unsuccessful and then the miners from the Cleveland Cliffs were called but also were unsuccessful. It was a professional diver from Chicago who found the body 130 feet below the surface.

The other drowning was in July 1943, Oliver Finnila, age about 12 went to the mine pit for a swim which was not uncommon in those days. When he was not home by six p.m. the parents became alarmed and sent his brother to go and look for him.

It was believed that the brothers were together at one point and probably knew where his brother was. The police were notified and found Oliver’s clothes on the edge of the pit and the firemen used grappling hooks to retrieve the body.

It is believed that the boy drowned shortly after he began to swim. The headstone in Miners Park by the monument is in memory of the three boys who died in mine pits.

It also includes the name of Ernie Salo, who died in the pit on the eastern end of town due to a snow avalanche.