Bessemer Township, Michigan

Bessemer Township is a civil township of Gogebic County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2020, its population was 1,135.^[3]

Bessemer Township, Michigan
Civil township
Location within Gogebic County
Bessemer Township Location within the state of Michigan Show map of Michigan Bessemer Township Bessemer Township (the United States) Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 46°25′14″N 89°59′51″W
Country	United States
State	Michigan
County	Gogebic
Government
• Supervisor	Jeffery Randall
• Clerk	Debbie Janczak
Area
• Total	115.4 sq mi (298.9 km2)
• Land	113.8 sq mi (294.9 km2)
• Water	1.6 sq mi (4.0 km2)
Elevation	1,549 ft (472 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,135
• Density	11.2/sq mi (4.3/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code(s)	49911 (Bessemer) 49947 (Marenisco) 49959 (Ramsay) 49968 (Wakefield)
Area code	906
FIPS code	26-07980[1]
GNIS feature ID	1625929[2]
Website	Official website

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 115.4 square miles (299 km²), of which 113.8 square miles (295 km²) is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²) (1.35%) is water.

Communities

• Anvil Location is a community established in 1886, associated with an iron mine, the Anvil Mine, operated by Newport Mining Company. Production at this mine spanned from 1887 to 1957, 70 years of production. It had a post office from 1918 to 1971.^[4]
• The City of Bessemer is situated within the township, but is administratively autonomous.
• Dunham was an unincorporated community centered on a station on the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. There was a plant of the Ashland Iron and Steel Company here. It had a Post Office from 1902 until 1911.^[5]
• Harding Location borders the southern parameters of the township, a farming community. Although some of this land is still used for farming, it is small compared to past years.
• Puritan Location is the westernmost populated community, established in 1886. Its mine, the Ruby was operated by Oliver Mining Company and was the first of the major iron mines on the Gogebic Range to close in 1941. It had the largest public school edifice in the township, constructed in 1920 and continued operating through the school year of 1958–59. It had a Post Office from 1910 until 1953.^[6]
• Ramsay is an unincorporated community within the township at 46°28′13″N 89°59′48″W. It is on the Black River just south of U.S. Highway 2 a few miles west of Wakefield and a few miles east of Bessemer.^[7]

Keystone Arch Bridge

The Keystone Arch Bridge in Ramsay cost $48,322 (equivalent to $1.48 million in 2023^[8]). The Chicago & Northwestern Railway built it in 1891, using limestone quarried in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. It is 45 feet (14 m) long, 44 feet (13 m) wide, and 57 feet (17 m) tall with wing walls of 50 feet (15 m).^[9] Stone arch bridges are a rarity in Michigan.^[10]

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2010, there were 1,176 people. By 2020, its population was 1,135.^[3]

References

1. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Bessemer Township, Michigan
3. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
4. Romig, Walter (1986). Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities. Great Lakes Books Series. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0814318386.
5. Romig (1986), p. 165.
6. "Notification Service: Post Offices". PostalHistory.com. Retrieved September 15, 2016.^{[self-published source]}
7. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Ramsay, Michigan
8. Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
9. Hyde, Charles K. (1978). Abbott, Diane B. (ed.). The Upper Peninsula of Michigan: An Inventory of Historic Engineering and Industrial Sites. Historic American Engineering Record. United States Department of the Interior. p. 183. ISBN 9781528454063.
10. Christensen, Robert O. (May 2005). "Indian Lake Road Stone Arch Bridge" (National Register of Historic Places registration form). Retrieved June 5, 2023.