Gwinn Model Town

William Gwinn Mather, president of the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company, oversaw the development of Gwinn in 1906, inspired by benevolence, a need to attract dependable workers, and a desire to avoid labor strife. He hired Boston landscape designer Warren H. Manning to plan Gwinn as a company town that provided housing and community services for residents. Manning's design included boulevards, plantings, and extensive green space, reflecting the tenets of the City Beautiful and Garden City movements, important town planning trends of the day. Gwinn became a model for other company towns in the region, and after the mines closed in 1946, company-owned properties were sold. Mather's and Manning's Model Town of Gwinn is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Gwinn, Michigan · United States