Eagle River

First settled in the early 1840’s by prospectors seeking copper deposits, Eagle River later became the shipping port for the famous Cliff and other nearby copper mines and was very active in the 1850’s. In 1855 the town had two breweries, 32 saloons, and three hotels. The Phoenix Hotel, with 24 rooms, was considered the leading hotel in Michigan north of Detroit, and the third story of the German hotel served as the town jail. One of the first fuse factories in America, established in 1862, stood at the old dam near the bridge and burned on May 1, 1957. Keweenaw County was organized with Eagle River as the county seat on August 1, 1861. Douglass Houghton, the first state geologist of Michigan, drowned just offshore at the age of 37.

Eagle River, Michigan · United States