Located on the 700 block of Woodward Avenue, looking west, the Ford Clubhouse, the three-story white frame building, was completed in late May, 1925, for use as headquarters for visiting officials. The house, on the corner of Woodward and Ripley avenues, was the Joseph Mongrain farmhouse, a part of the 160-acre farm upon which the Ford plant was constructed. Woodward Avenue had not been paved when this photograph was taken, probably between 1925 and 1930. The city of Iron Mountain was located on the north side (right) and the Village of Kingsford was located on the south side (left) of Woodward Avenue. The water tower in the distance was located west of the filtration plant and held the village’s potable water supply. [City of Kingsford]

IRON MOUNTAIN – The 25th installment of Menominee Range Memories, a series of articles by William J. Cummings, Menominee Range Historical Foundation historian, now available on the Dickinson County Library’s website, is titled “The Roaring Twenties –Ford Motor Company’s Arrival Impacts Dickinson County — The Housing Shortage.”

Housing was at a premium as construction began on the Ford Motor Company’s plant south of the Iron Mountain city limits, and land was selling quickly near the plant location. The population grew rapidly as people flocked to the area to gain employment. Housing shortages were severe.

In the Aug. 12, 1920, edition of The Iron Mountain Press, an article written by George A. Newett, editor of Ishpeming’s newspaper Iron Ore, documented the “boom” which occurred in Iron Mountain within a month of the arrival of the Ford Motor Company and the excitement among residents after he spent a day in the city.

Newett noted the immediate increase in real estate values and the demand for lots for building as the population began to rapidly increase, as follows:

“After many years in which Iron Mountain was about as flat as a pancake it has suddenly sprung into life, its veins filled with the elixir of gasoline, and dirt has risen in value to great heights overnight. We were told by one man who conducts a tire and automobile accessory shop that he was offered $27,000 for his business location and building that he recently purchased for $3,750. A business block nearby that was bought for $4,000 last winter could now be sold for $30,000, this having been offered for it, and so it goes all along the line.

“We found Art Minnear rushing to get his real estate and brokerage office open by Monday. We saw Frank Russell buying the town newspapers and preparing to issue a live daily as a subsidiary of Marquette’s The Marquette Mining Journal. (Russell was the first publisher of The Iron Mountain News.) We had numerous invitations to pull up stakes and come down and grow up with the country. Everyone was feeling 100 per cent fine and expecting profits running into the 1,000th. It was good to listen to them.”

During 1920 Ford began developing a residential area near Crystal Lake on the company’s property just south of Iron Mountain and built 50 houses, the first of many more Ford eventually built. At the same time other developers began a rush of new subdivisions and home-building on nearby properties.

In the Sept. 16, 1920 edition of the Iron Mountain Press, under the headline: “Homes in Demand – Needs of the Hour Are Several Hundred Modern Homes,” the following update on real estate development was outlined:

“As has been anticipated, there has been a large movement in residence property during the past few days and the demand is a growing one. Lots in the village of Breitung, sold by Minnear & Co., are finding a ready sale and several have already changed hands at an increase in price. A new sub-division, handled by Cruse & Co., has been named ‘Ferndale.’ A portion of the Carollo farm has been platted by the firm. These lots are well located for homes for industrial workers, being within walking distance of the Ford plants, close to the von Platen-Fox mill and convenient to all the railroads. Lots in the Victoria Park addition, handled by M.E. Richards for the Iron Mountain Land & Mineral company, are being sold rapidly. There are no finer residence lots in the district. A newly incorporated concern — the Iron Mountain Real Estate company — will plat several hundred acres in the immediate future. The lands are to the north, south and west of the Ford industries – some have a river frontage. One desirable tract is located in the vicinity of Crystal Lake, where the Ford folks are going to locate their recreation park and playgrounds. This land is well-wooded and a special effort will be made to preserve all the natural beauty.

“The need of the hour is a company to erect homes. Today there is a sale for several hundred modern residences. The company that will plat a tract of land, erect homes on the lots and make street improvements will reap a substantial profit in a few months. The plan of the Ford company is not to build houses, but unless private capital embraces the opportunity, the company will be forced to erect several hundred in order to house its men.”

The Village of Breitung was platted on Sept. 8, 1920. The Village of West Breitung was platted on Nov. 4, 1920. The Roseland Addition, just west of Carpenter Avenue and east of the Breitung townsite, was a 40-acre tract platted in October 1920. A fourth residential area, known as Ferndale, located east of Carpenter Avenue on the south side of Breitung Avenue, was platted on Sept. 7, 1920.

The Oct. 21, 1920, edition of the Iron Mountain Press, under the headline “Newest Addition,” reported:

“Engineer Cummings, of Marquette, is engaged in platting the forty acres adjoining the Breitung townsite on the west for the Iron Mountain Real Estate company. The lots will be on the market soon and will be handled by J.A. Minnear & Co. This property is located directly south of the immense body plant of the Michigan Iron, Land & Lumber company upon which work will commence at an early date.”

In the same edition, under the headline “Ferndale,” the following account appeared:

“Cruse & Co. have sold many lots in their Ferndale addition to people who intend building homes and become residents of Iron Mountain. A couple of business houses — meat market and provision store — are also assured.”

Under the headline “Will Improve Ford Addition: Boulevard Along Shore of Crystal Lake Main Feature”, the July 12, 1921, edition of The Iron Mountain Daily News noted:

“Real estate operations of the Ford company in and about Iron Mountain are commanding great interest here, particularly since the acceptance by the city of ‘Ford’s First Addition.’ This is the tract lying south of F street along Kimberly avenue, where the present Ford houses are located, and takes in the shore of Crystal Lake.

“An extensive program of improvement and beautification has been planned by the owners. Before the lots are thrown open, water, sewer, gas, and electric connections will be made, streets graded and paved, and sidewalks, curbs and gutters built, making the new addition improved property in every sense of the word…”

On Sunday, Aug. 28, 1921, Kingsford Heights, a new subdivision southwest of Iron Mountain platted by J.A. Minnear & Co. and consisting of 440 lots, was formally opened. The subdivision, extending from the north line of the Ford lands immediately adjoining the plant to a point just south and west of Iron Mountain City Park, consisted of varied terrain.

Under the headline “250 New Homes in City, Is Estimate: But Not Enough to Supply the Demand, Say Observers,” in its Nov. 11, 1922, edition The Iron Mountain News reported:

“At least 250 homes were constructed in Iron Mountain during the past summer and fall, according to a conservative estimate today by a man who is engaged in the building trade. But even this number, it is said, will not aid materially in reducing the housing shortage and the clamor for homes and living quarters instead of decreasing, is growing in volume.

“While the housing situation in the city is admitted to have reached an acute stage, it is asserted that unless some relief is provided it will have become most critical in the spring…”

The April 7, 1923, edition of The Iron Mountain News, under the headline “Building & Loan to Move Houses: Thirty Will Be Brought To L’Anse and Iron Mountain,” noted:

“The building activities of the Detroit & Northern Michigan Building & Loan association for the coming season include the moving of approximately 30 of its dwellings from the Copper Country to L’Anse and Iron Mountain…

“The house shortage in L’Anse and Iron Mountain has become acute and the success met by the association in moving some of its dwellings to Iron Mountain a year ago encourages expansion of the program to include L’Anse…

“Alex Keturi, Hancock contractor, will raze and rebuild the dwellings under the direction of the association’s building committee. Unlike the plan followed last summer the houses in this instance will not be moved in sections but will be dismantled and the lumber used in building residences of the bungalow type.”

A series of five articles written by “The Investigator” (probably Lawrence D. Tucker, editor) concerning the housing situation appeared between April 16 and 20, 1923, in The Iron Mountain News and provide tremendous insight into the housing shortage crisis at that time. (The series is transcribed in full in the expanded article on the Dickinson County Library website.)

The first article contained Edward G. Kingsford’s declaration that development of the Ford industry here depended largely upon the facilities of the community to house the required labor.

The second article noted that rents were very high for the value received, living quarters were at a premium and many families existed under conditions usually only found in the squalid, tenement districts of a metropolis.

The third article discussed real estate prices which were considered high, and were likely to remain stable or possibly go up.

The fourth article noted that Iron Mountain needed at the very least 400 new homes due to the acute housing shortage, anticipating that 300 would be built that year.

The fifth and last article in the series discussed the willingness of local banks to lend money for house construction, noting that people were saving money which was a good indication for future growth.

The new residential development, accompanied by commercial development, resulted in the establishment of the Village of Kingsford, named for Edward G. Kingsford and authorized by voters on August 29, 1923.

In the Sept. 6, 1923, edition of The Iron Mountain News, under the headline “Ford Motor Company To Start Building Houses: Program to Be Continued Indefinitely If Experiment Proves Successful,” the construction of homes in the Ford Addition was announced.

“A house building program experiment that, if successful, will be continued indefinitely, will be undertaken immediately here by the Ford Motor company, it was announced today by E.G. Kingsford, chief of the company’s operations in the upper peninsula.

“The company will take charge of the work itself, awarding contracts only for individual jobs, such as plumbing and lighting, Mr. Kingsford said, and it is planned to start with from 25 to 50 homes.

“These houses will be constructed outside the city limits just south of the Ford store on the street running west. They will be two stories in height and have from five to seven rooms, basement and furnace. Various styles of architecture will be employed in their design and the houses will be modern in every respect. Although the cost has not yet been determined, the houses have already been sold to employees of the company, Mr. Kingsford said…”

An article under the headline “Four Hundred Houses Built Here This Year, Estimate: Represent Investment of $1,600,000; Population of City and Village Believed to Be About 14,000,” appeared in the Nov. 23, 1923, edition of The Iron Mountain News, noting:

“Four hundred houses representing an investment of $1,600,000 were constructed in Iron Mountain and the village of Kingsford during the last year, according to estimates by real estate men, and the possibilities are that this number will be greatly exceeded next year.

“This makes a total of 700 houses built here in the last two years, or about one house a day. In addition every available flat and two and three room suite is rented and still the demand is far from being satisfied…”

A census, conducted by city directory workers employed by R. L. Polk & Co. and completed Dec. 10, 1924, revealed a population of 5,106 in Kingsford and 18,349 in Kingsford and Iron Mountain together. For Iron Mountain itself, this represented a population increase of 5,000 in only four years.

Read the rest of this story on the Dickinson County Library’s website (www.dcl-lib.org). This 30-page installment of Menominee Range Memories contains eight captioned period photographs and maps, mainly of Kingsford’s Ford Addition, and includes full transcriptions of many contemporary newspaper articles dealing with housing shortage in the Iron Mountain-Kingsford community up to 1925.

New installments will be added to the Library’s website and on the Library’s local history research computer.