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

30 years ago

ISHPEMING — Five of the Great Lakes “hotspots” identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are in the Upper Peninsula. The sites are Deer Lake – Carp River north of Ishpeming, Torch Lake in Lake Linden, the St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste. Marie, the Menominee River at Menominee, and the Manistique River at Manistique. As early as 1961, the EPA identified mercury as the compound contaminating the 977-acre Deer Lake-Carp River system. Mercury was used in a mining laboratory in Ishpeming. The Carp River downstream to Lake Superior has also been identified as contaminated with the toxic metal. Torch Lake is a 2,700-acre body of water that was used for the dumping of copper mining tailings and other industrial and municipal wastes for many years. Contamination in the Menominee and Manistique rivers is associated with the lumber industry. At the St. Mary’s River, steel and tannery operations caused the contamination. Remedial action plans have been initiated in varying degrees on each of the five U.P. areas. In some cases, as in Deer Lake, cleanup costs are being paid by parties responsible for the contamination.

90 years ago

MARQUETTE — Marquette is certainly going to be a busy place the next 10 days. It will be getting ready for a silver anniversary and golden jubilee. How come? Well, you see it is like this. Fifty years ago, in the fall of 1879 to be exact, Peter White gave the building on Spring St. for the first public library in Marquette. Twenty-five years ago, again to be exact, in the fall of 1904, the library took up its residence in the present building at the corner of Ridge and Front streets. There you have your golden jubilee and silver anniversary. To mark the occasion, the trustees of the Peter White Public Library invite you to pay a visit to the institution on Saturday, October 28. There are various features planned to delight the children, along with exhibits for the grown-ups too.