Iron County was set off in 1885 from Marquette and Menominee counties. Iron ore deposits that gave the new county its name were the first on the Menominee Iron Range to be discovered, and shipping of ore began in 1882 when the railroad arrived. Iron River was the first county seat, but in 1889, after a celebrated struggle, county government shifted to Crystal Falls. Logging, which began in 1875, has been second only to mining in the county’s economy. J.C. Clancy designed the Richardsonian Romanesque style courthouse, completed in 1891 and constructed of regional materials including reddish stone columns quarried from the nearby Paint River and yellow clay bricks. Overlooking the city’s main street and the valley below, the structure features a domed courtroom with original furnishings and continues to serve a county built from “the iron and the pine.”