Iron mining began on the Menominee Range in 1879, and soon after the first Italians arrived, primarily from Piedmont, Trentino, Lombardy, Venetia, Abruzzo Molise, Latium, Friuli, Calabria, Sicily, Emilia-Romagna, and Liguria. By 1910 they numbered 1,457 in Dickinson County. Italians worked chiefly in the mines, which needed large numbers of unskilled workers, and as opportunity allowed many entered their own service-related businesses. Some people from Capistrano developed their own cooperative store. Beginning in 1886 in the communities of Norway, Vulcan, and Iron Mountain, twenty-eight mutual beneficial societies were founded. Italians in Iron Mountain were served by Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, which they constructed. Iron Mountain merchant John Daprato became the first immigrant to serve in the Michigan State Legislature from 1912 to 1920, and Dr. Julius Menistrina served the health needs of the Iron Mountain community. Today the north side remains an Italian-American community with a strong Italian heritage and many shops and taverns.