Bessemer

History

In 1880, a hunter and trapper Richard Langford, discovered iron ore under an overturned birch tree. However, Captain N. D. Moore is credited with disclosing the ore which led to the development of the Colby property. Mining began in 1883. By 1884, the Milwaukee Lake Shore and Western Railroad (later the Chicago and Northwestern) was being built from Antigo, WI to Ashland, WI by way of the new mines. The railroad company plotted the town of Bessemer in 1884. On June 4, 1886 Gogebic County was separated from Ontonagon County. In March 1887, 360 voting members assembled and voted to organize the village of Bessemer. In the same year Gogebic County was officially created by the Michigan Legislature. Also in the year Bessemer and Ironwood called an election to see which city would be the county seat and also have the Gogebic County Courthouse. Ironwood men traveling to Bessemer to vote were made drunk and the train did not stop at the voting site. Ironwood lost and Bessemer gained the county seat. From 1884 to December 31, 1958, a period of seventy-five years, the iron ore shipment from all of Gogebic County totaled over 245 million tons. In 1966 the last mine in Bessemer, the Peterson Mine, closed. Many left the area to work in car factories in Kenosha, and the local economy underwent a serious decline. Bessemer is named for Sir Henry Bessemer (1813-1898), English inventor of steel manufacturing.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Majority of Bessemer is situated on the north side of Colby Hill and the city consists of many hills and valleys.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,363
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,175
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,783
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,546
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,507
• Red-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta canadensis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,230
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,109
• Hairy Woodpecker

  Leuconotopicus villosus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,041