Kearsarge, Michigan
Encyclopedia
Kearsarge is an unincorporated community in Calumet Township
, Houghton County
in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Calumet
/Laurium
on U.S. Route 41
/M-26
at 47°16′30"N 88°24′58"W.
Kearsarge is served by a post office with ZIP code
49942, providing P.O. Box service.
The community was first settled in 1867. An amygdaloid copper lode
was mined by various companies from 1882 through 1925. A post office opened on Nevember 20, 1893, with Barnett S. Shearer as the first postmaster. It was named for the USS Kearsarge (1861)
by a former naval officer who was an employee of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company
. It had a station on the Hancock and Calumet Railroad (which became part of Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway
).
During the Great Depression
, workers with the WPA
built a memorial to the 1862 naval ship out of stones, though the monument bears little resemblance to the sloop it commemorates.
Calumet Township, Michigan
Calumet Township is a charter township of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,997 at the 2000 census.-History:Native Americans mined copper in Calumet Township thousands of years ago....
, Houghton County
Houghton County, Michigan
-National protected areas:* Keweenaw National Historical Park * Ottawa National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 36,016 people, 13,793 households, and 8,137 families residing in the county. The population density was 36 people per square mile . There were 17,748 housing...
in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Calumet
Calumet, Michigan
Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National...
/Laurium
Laurium, Michigan
Laurium is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan, in the center of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The population was 2,126 at the 2000 census.-History:...
on U.S. Route 41
U.S. Route 41
U.S. Route 41 is a north–south United States Highway that runs from Miami, Florida to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miami, was U.S...
/M-26
M-26 (Michigan highway)
M-26 is a state trunkline highway in the U.S. state of Michigan, running from two miles east of Rockland to its junction with US Highway 41 in Copper Harbor. It generally runs southwest-to-northeast in the western half or Michigan's Upper Peninsula...
at 47°16′30"N 88°24′58"W.
Kearsarge is served by a post office with ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
49942, providing P.O. Box service.
The community was first settled in 1867. An amygdaloid copper lode
Copper mining in Michigan
While it originated thousands of years earlier, copper mining in Michigan became an important industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its rise marked the start of copper mining as a major industry in the United States.-Geology:...
was mined by various companies from 1882 through 1925. A post office opened on Nevember 20, 1893, with Barnett S. Shearer as the first postmaster. It was named for the USS Kearsarge (1861)
USS Kearsarge (1861)
USS Kearsarge, a Mohican-class sloop-of-war, is best known for her defeat of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama during the American Civil War. The Kearsarge was the only ship of the United States Navy named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire...
by a former naval officer who was an employee of the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company
Calumet and Hecla Mining Company
The Calumet and Hecla Mining Company was a major copper-mining company based in the Michigan Copper Country. In the 19th century, the company paid out more than $72 million in shareholder dividends, more than any other mining company in the United States during that period.-History:In 1864, Edwin J...
. It had a station on the Hancock and Calumet Railroad (which became part of Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway
Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway
The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway was an American railroad serving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Lake Superior shoreline of Wisconsin. It provided service from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and St. Ignace, Michigan, westward through Marquette, Michigan to Superior, Wisconsin,...
).
During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, workers with the WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
built a memorial to the 1862 naval ship out of stones, though the monument bears little resemblance to the sloop it commemorates.