Iron River, MI

Iron River is the largest city in Iron County’s Upper Peninsula, and its name comes straight out of the mining map. The settlement began in 1882 as Nanaimo, after the Nanaimo iron mine, then took the name of the nearby Iron River when the Chicago and North Western Railway reached the district. Ore shipments followed, the settlement incorporated as a village in 1885, and it became a city in 1926. Today, forest, lakes, and winter sports sit alongside the old mining and railroad story. West Iron County Schools are based here, and the city still serves as the county’s main reference point in the western U.P.