Biographical Dictionary of Copper Country Architects
by Kiel Vanderhovel and Derek Dykens Architect: Charles K. Shand Location: 325 6th Street, Calumet Built: 1898-99 Carpentry: Bajari & Ulseth Masonry: Procissi & Company After a brush fire in 1870 destroyed approximately two-thirds of the Village of Red Jacket, the first fire department was created in 1875. In 1887 the village paid the fire-fighting… Read more Red Jacket Village Fire Hall
by Morgan Davis. Architect: Charles W. Maass Location: 242 Iroquois St., Laurium Built: 1899 Contractor: Bajari & Ulseth Charles L. Fichtel, a druggist, commissioned this grand house in 1899. The newspaper described it as being in the “English style,” probably meaning Queen Anne Revival. The jerkinhead-gable roof, cross gable, three-story tower, porches and projections, and… Read more Fichtel House
by Dany Peavey, Stevan Sliger, John Krystof, and Travis Dvorak. Architect: Charlton, Gilbert, & Demar Location: 1019 College Ave., Houghton Built: 1899 Builder: H. Ferge of Milwaukee Painting and Decorating: Hamilton & Eade of Duluth John L. Rees, assistant cashier at the National Bank of Houghton, commissioned this two-and-a-half-story building with shingle-clad walls and a… Read more John Rees House
by Dany Peavey, Stevan Sliger, John Krystof, and Travis Dvorak. Architect: Charlton, Gilbert, & Demar Location: Fifth Street, Calumet New façade: 1899 Contractor: Bajari & Ulseth P. Ruppe & Son undertook $12,000 worth of renovations to a two-story frame building to produce this handsome commercial block for their store. As reported in the newspaper, “An… Read more Ruppe Block
by Dany Peavey, Stevan Sliger, John Krystof, and Travis Dvorak. Updated 2021 by Steven Walton Architect: Charlton, Gilbert, & DemarAlternative Name: Hancock City HallLocation: 399 Quincy Street, HancockBuilt: 1898-99Contractor: E. E. Grip & Co. of IshpemingInterior Painting: Associated Artists of Milwaukee In February 1898, three architectural firms submitted plans for this commission: William T. Pryor, C. Archibald… Read more Hancock Town Hall and Fire Hall
by A. K. Hoagland. Architect: Duncan Campbell Location: 325 Kearsarge St., Laurium Built: 1899 Henry Grimmer, a grocer, commissioned Campbell to design this relatively modest house and lived there only briefly. The newspaper said that “the style of architecture is colonial design, there being a large veranda in front with a balcony above it.” It went… Read more Grimmer House
by Jeremy Rickli Architect: Henry Leopold Ottenheimer Alternative Name: Post Office Block Location: Southeast corner of Isle Royale Street and Lakeshore Drive, Houghton Built: 1899 Contractor: Paul Mueller, Chicago; local superintendent, Herman Gundlach The James R. Dee Block is located in downtown Houghton close to the Shelden-Dee Block and the Douglass House. James R. Dee… Read more James R. Dee Block
by Kiel Vanderhovel and Derek Dykens. Architect: Charles K. Shand Location: 305-307 6th Street, Calumet Built: 1898 Contractor: L. E. Chausse The Edward Ryan Block, also known as the Duane Girard Building, is a three-story building constructed with sandstone quarried from the Portage Entry. The structure is approximately 75’ x 52’. This building was formerly… Read more Edward Ryan Block
by Adam Gaugh. Architect: Shaw & Hunnewell Location: Red Jacket Road and Mine St., Calumet Built: 1897-98 This striking stone building with its façade of contrasting red and gray mine rock was the Calumet Public Library. The library was built in 1897-98 for public use. When the library opened, the Copper Country Evening Newscommented that “no… Read more Calumet Public Library
by A. K. Hoagland Architect: Louis Piket Location: 1383 Rockland St., Calumet Built: 1897-98 Destroyed by fire 1983 Established in 1868, Sacred Heart Church was the first Catholic church in the Calumet area. Hecla Mining Company leased the land on which the parish built a frame church, measuring 40′ x 90′, at a cost of… Read more Sacred Heart Church