The Marquette Iron Range opened in the 1840s, but the first Italians did not settle there until the early 1860s. They came from Tuscany, Venice, Lombardy, Piedmont, Calabria, Naples, and Sicily and settled in Negaunee, Ishpeming, and Gwinn, where most worked in the mines. By 1910, there were 1,251 Italians on the range. Over time, some entered the service industry, operating groceries, bakeries, restaurants, and taverns, while women kept boarders, operated shops, or worked as seamstresses. In Marquette City, a small number worked in the Cliffs-Dow Charcoal plant. Some immigrants became involved in local politics, and Dominic Jacobetti, the son of immigrants, became Michigan's longest serving legislator and held important and influential positions. In the 1920s, an Italian dramatic group was active in Negaunee. Italians attended local Catholic churches, and between 1890 and 1968 there were twenty-one Italian mutual beneficial societies for men and women on the range. Italian heritage in the county is preserved by numerous institutions.