Talk:Calumet, Michigan

Does the "Calumetopoly" game really have any encyclopedic significance? --64squares 22:11, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)

No. Bigturtle 17:04, 30 March 2006 (UTC)


 * I think that almost ever city of any notability has a Cityname-opoly. -- dcclark (talk) 21:07, 30 March 2006 (UTC)


 * And quite a few unremarkable cities as well. This has no place in an encyclopedia. I can see it now: List of places with a version of Monopoly made for it. Gah. older ≠ wiser 21:33, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Caluet to be Michigan Capital?
The article previously mentioned the following: Calumet is famously known as the runner up in the decision of the location of the Michigan State Capitol, having lost to Lansing by one vote. It seems interesting and would be great to put back in. Does anyone have a source?--24.209.135.229 (talk) 21:59, 15 May 2008 (UTC)


 * It's bogus information. Most of the UP west of the Mackinac/Sault area was wilderness in the 1840s when the location of the capital was being decided. older ≠ wiser 23:03, 15 May 2008 (UTC)


 * This is referred to as an urban legend in Larry Lankton's "Cradle to Grave". Not to mention that C&H wasn't even founded until the mid 1860's, so Red Jacket / Calumet / Laurium didn't even exist yet. -- dcclark (talk) 01:24, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Having worked at the Keweenaw National Historical Park, and based upon SEVERAL books, inculding Lankton, Calumet was defintely NOT ever a contender with Lansing to be the capital. The Keweenaw was still largely a wasteland when Douglass Houghton, the Michigan state geologist made his survey in 1841. It wasn't until *1864* that Edwin Hulbert discovered the load of copper called the Calumet Conglomerate upon which the town would revolve around and Red Jacket (Calumet) wasn't organized as a town until 1867, 20 years AFTER Lansing was chosen as the capital. So how in the name of sanity can a non-existent town be a contender for the state capital 20 years before it was founded? And who started this ahistorical rumor anyway? 67.247.147.235 (talk) 15:39, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Brick Pavement
First in Michigan, should be mentioned. --Daniel C. Boyer 20:19, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

I added the oldest paved road in Michigan. Feel free to edit t as needed! Moonlandingwasahoax (talk) 18:40, 11 July 2019 (UTC)

JROTC
Link seems to be dead. Someone should investigate. --141.219.44.44 21:51, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Calumet historical population
In the 3rd paragraph under History, we learn:
 * "By 1900, Red Jacket and the surrounding company towns had a population of some 60,000."

But then the article explains that Calumet township actually had only slightly more than half that population, and that to arrive at that 60,000, we have to include Hancock, Dollar Bay, South Range, Atlantic, and Dodgeville. Honestly, do the folks in South Range really think of themselves as part of the "greater Calumet metroplex"? Why don't we just give the population of Calumet township and leave it at that? Plazak (talk) 19:14, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

I corrected the population figures to reflect only Red Jacket and Calumet Township. Now as the the following statement in the article: "Red Jacket suffered from mining labor strikes, and the population began to decline." The above wording implies that the labor troubles caused the decline in population; if anyone can substantiate such a connection, please add documentation. A more likely cause for the period 1910-1920 is greater mining productivity due to mechanization. Plazak (talk) 16:49, 29 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I just noticed this comment. The strike did indeed cause a population decline. As the strike dragged on, workers moved to the non-striking mines in the Ontonogan and Marquette areas. Mechanization had some impact, but not actually that much. The biggest reason was mine closure during the great depression: almost no mines stayed open during that time. -- dcclark (talk) 14:02, 22 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Whatever declines suffered during the strike 1913-1914 would have been quickly made up during WWI, when Michigan copper production soared to all-time record highs. However, use of pneumatic drills, which was one of the issues during the strike, meant that fewer miners were needed per ton of ore.  You are right about the depression; that was the greatest cause of decline.Plazak (talk) 14:23, 22 February 2008 (UTC)

Pronunciation
An indication would be helpful for non-locals. Which syllable is stressed? Is it roughly CA-lu-met? Ca-LOO-met? Ca-lu-MET? Draggleduck (talk) 04:37, 23 May 2010 (UTC)
 * It's CAL-you-met. I live here, so that's how I know. --Saukkomies talk  01:25, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

George Gipp?
Uhm. It says that George Gipp is a notable person from Calumet. However, adjacent Laurium also claims his as one of their own. And Laurium actually has a memorial shrine dedicated to Gipp's memory erected in a prominent place in the town. However, I don't want to get picky about this. --Saukkomies talk 01:27, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 * I guess some of the question is what is meant by "native" or "from" Calumet. He was born in Laurium (which at the time of his birth was officially called Calumet, and Calumet was Red Jacket, just to make things confusing). It's hard to separate the two towns, so I don't think there is a problem with him being in both lists. I see here that he attended Calumet High (which I believed served both towns at the time, as it does now). Don't know if this helps. Chris857 (talk) 02:25, 11 July 2013 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I agree with you, Chris. Gipp is also buried in the Calumet Cemetery, which is not actually in the city limits of Calumet, but is where most people who have lived in the Calumet area (including Laurium) are interred. I believe both Calumet and Laurium could therefore make a claim to being Gipp's home town, and this is confusing to people who may not understand how the two communities are so intertwined geographically, but I think it is good to have at least brought up the subject in the "Talk" page of this article, in case someone wants to delve into this deeper. --Saukkomies talk 11:15, 11 July 2013 (UTC)

Being from Laurium, I highly believe that the story is true that George Gipp is from Laurium. I have heard this many times, and there are two memorial service for him (one being the George Gipp Arena located at the corner of 3rd St and Isle Royale St.) Moonlandingwasahoax (talk) 18:34, 11 July 2019 (UTC)

"Red Dawn" the 1984 movie...
Correction: As stated: in the 1984 movie, "Red Dawn", 'Calumet'  was not re-created in Colorado but in Las Vegas, New Mexico as meticulously detailed in this Utube video by 'adamthewoo'. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I35Y2qp19vw — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.128.177.207 (talk) 20:25, 11 August 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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Calumet name change revert edit
The revert edit on 17 January 2017 done by user Daniel C. Boyer is legitimate. He removed erroneous information regarding the history of Calumet, though originally it was added by another user with honest good intent. The information removed discussed the name change and incorporation of the communities of Red Jacket, Calumet, Hecla and Laurium, and included a link to a web page hosted by InfoMi, a dubious source at best. The confusion in the wording of the reference is due to the fact that it is talking about the US Post Office that opened in Calumet in 1866 that eventually took over the mail delivery of the surrounding areas. However, this does not mean that these separate communities merged civil governments. The communities of Red Jacket, Calumet, Hecla, South Hecla and others did merge to form the single town of Calumet, but Laurium always remained a separate civil entity. Additionally, Laurium was once called Calumet, and in 1893 it acquired its own separate post office and changed its name to the present Laurium.

Much of this confusion is made more clear if one takes into consideration that the communities derived their original names from the copper mine shafts they were built around to provide housing for the mine workers. Sometimes the same mine would have several shafts built far apart from each other to access the intricate mine tunnels below. The Calumet/Hecla Mine is such a case, and the shaft bearing the name of Calumet Mine Shaft was located in the present-day town of Laurium. The same is the case with the other communities: Red Jacket, Hecla, South Hecla, etc. all were the names of the mine shafts located in various places, and gave their names to the communities that surrounded them, even though sometimes those communities were directly adjacent to each other, forming a cohesive, uninterrupted town. When Red Jacket, Hecla, South Hecla merged their civil governments and formed the town of Calumet, it was in response to the often confusing situation in which people often had no idea what town they were living in, as the boundaries were often unclear. Laurium, however, being the community where many of the more affluent mine employees lived, refused to merge with Calumet, and so when the other adjacent communities merged, Laurium voted to change its name and remain as a separate civil entity, and retained its separate social identity to this day. Today, Laurium is by far the larger community, however it is Calumet that is more widely known.

Here is the cited text from the reference that the original editor used as the basis for the erroneous edit:
 * ″Calumet was given a post office in 1866. Gradually it encompassed the seperate communities of Laurium, Hecla, and South Hecla. In 1929 it united with the incorporated village of Red Jacket, keeping the name of Calumet.″ − //www.infomi.com/city/calumet/

--Saukkomies talk 15:32, 17 January 2017 (UTC)

Calumet Public Library
Hello all, I had just went to look at the Calumet Public Library page and had seen that it now redirects to this page. Was it moved? What happened? Archigan (talk) 20:31, 2 May 2020 (UTC)
 * It was BOLDly redirected by on April 28. I think I likely would have done the same. Libraries have no presumption of notability and as you should know, notability is based on how much has been written about a subject. For a local library to be notable, it would have to meet ORGDEPTH, which requires that a showing be made of notability beyond the subject's local area. Library systems that span a significant geographic area are usually notable. Older libraries in large cities, the same. Many many small town libraries are notable, but they are generally notable for the building they occupy, not the library itself. Many Carnegie Libraries are on the NRHP  and that is generally considered a presumption of notability. If you disagree,, your next move is to undo the edit, but if PC doesn't take it to WP:AFD, I will. That's the next step after you revert the redirect if others disagree, and I'd guess at least two will. John from Idegon (talk) 01:48, 3 May 2020 (UTC)

I fully agree with you, John from Idegon. It is not near as notable as, say, the old C&H Historic Library. I will not undo the edit nor will I contest it. Archigan (talk) 20:32, 6 May 2020 (UTC)