EDITOR’S NOTE: Superiorland Yesterdays is prepared by the reference staff at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

30 years ago

MARQUETTE — The Marquette Beautification and Restoration Committee will launch its plans for a major spring planting Thursday. The group will meet in the Women’s Center on U.S. 41 to discuss planting the city’s south entry with petunias. The committee wants to plant the highway right-of-way to produce a show of color that will last into the fall. The goal is to beautify the entrance to the city to entice tourists downtown rather than have them head west on the bypass. With summer and fall full of events like the Michigan Municipal League convention and the U.P. Summer Sports Festival, the committee says the timing is important. Merchants in south Marquette will be guests at Thursday’s lunch as the committee explains the project. Cost of the lunch is $2.50, and the public is welcome. Petunias are already being grown from seed at Meister Greenhouses, and the committee is seeking volunteer manpower, donations and publicity to keep the project rolling. A fundraising campaign will begin next month. The committee is patterning its project after an award-winning plan from Charlevoix, Michigan. It expects to involve the city of Marquette, service clubs, the Chamber of Commerce, businesses and residents. “Response to the project has been tremendously enthusiastic and positive,” committee Chairwoman Barb Kelly said in a news release. “It will be a lot of work and planning, but the rewards, smiles and community pride will be worth it.”

60 years ago

L’ANSE — The successful adventures of a former L’Anse man in the field of gold mining in Australia are told in the Michigan Tech Lode, published by the Michigan College of Mining & Technology. Nils Nilsen, son of Mrs. B. A. Nilsen, L’Anse, and a graduate of L’Anse High School, went to work for the Montreal (Wis.) Mining Co. following graduation from Michigan Tech in 1925. He then was employed by the Castile Mining Co., also in the Lake Superior iron district, before he went to Australia. After serving as engineer in charge of development, he has become chief general manager of the Emperor Gold Mining Co., the Loloma Gold Mines, N.L. and Dolphin Mines and director of seven mining and chemical companies. Nilsen’s son, John also is a graduate of Michigan Tech, receiving his degree in 1957.