Laurium, MI

Laurium is a Houghton County village in the center of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, built around Copper Country mining. The village was originally called Calumet, but residents wanted their own post office and the Michigan legislature changed the name to Laurium in 1895. The new name came from Lavrion, Greece, another copper-mining town. That is a very Laurium detail: even the village name carries a direct line to the ore that built the town.

Mining money also shaped the houses. Laurium was home to mine owners and other prosperous Keweenaw residents, and the Laurium Historic District still holds that residential layer; Laurium Manor Mansion is the best-known example. The Calumet & Hecla system and neighboring mines once employed thousands across the district, while the Calumet-Laurium-Keweenaw school district and commercial streets tied Laurium to nearby Calumet. Today the old shafts, sandstone village hall, historic homes, and National Park heritage sites tell the story. Laurium is a compact Upper Peninsula village where a copper boom remains visible in the name, architecture, and gridded streets.