Marquette's Timeline

"No man is himself;  he is the sum of his past." - William Faulkner

The Marquette Trilogy covers the history of Marquette, Michigan from its founding in 1849 through its sesquicentennial celebrations in 1999.  Below are many significant events in Marquette's history, several of which are depicted in the novels.

1671 - Father Jacques Marquette, Jesuit Missionary, holds a large Mass on the shore of Lake Superior, reputedly close to where the city of Marquette would one day be built.

1844 - Iron Ore is discovered in Upper Michigan by William Burt when his compass goes crazy while he is surveying the land due to magnetic iron ore rocks.

1845 - Philo Everett, having heard of William Burt's discovery, travels to Upper Michigan.  He meets Marji Gesick, a Chippewa Chief, who leads him to the site of iron ore where Negaunee is located today.  The discovery begins the iron ore industry, resulting in more mineral wealth being mined than during the California gold rush.

1849 - The village of Worcester is founded by Amos Harlow, Robert Graveraet, Waterman Fisher, and Edward Clarke.  Peter White comes to Marquette.  The first school is in the Harlow home, as well as the first post office, and many church meetings.  First teachers are Mrs. Dan Ball and Mrs. Samuel Barney.  First students are the Harlow and Bignall girls.  The first winter the inhabitants nearly starve to death until a supply ship arrives on Christmas Day.

1850 - Worcester is renamed Marquette.  When the ship Manhattan docks in Marquette, Dr. Livermore eulogizes it and Marquette's future glory as an industrial mecca.

1851 - Bishop Frederic Baraga becomes the Bishop of the Diocese of Amyzonia, later named Marianopolita, and then finally, the Diocese of Marquette, consisting of the entire Upper Peninsula. - Peter White becomes county clerk. - The first white child, Joseph Bignall, is born in Marquette. - The First Methodist Church is founded.

1852 - Peter White named postmaster of Carp River post office, which puts Amos Harlow’s early post office out of business. - The Marquette School district is established.

1853 - Dr. Morgan Hewitt and family come to Marquette. - October 12:  Bishop Baraga first visits Marquette and selects the site for its first church, eventually to become St. Peter's Cathedral.

1854 - Peter White tricks the U.S. Government about the amount of Marquette mail so the government will make sure regular mail delivery arrives from Green Bay, Wisconsin.

1855 - The Soo Locks open in Sault Sainte Marie, making shipping on the Great Lakes expand, especially for shipment of Iron Ore from Marquette's Harbor.  Charles Harvey, later the founder of neighboring Harvey, Michigan is the designing engineer. - Marquette celebrates its first Independence Day on July 4th with a lavish party at Samuel Ely's home. - Peter White and Maynard open law firm specializing in real estate. - First two permanent docks are built in Marquette's Harbor in Iron Bay. - First locomotive, the Sebastopol, arrives in Marquette.  A railroad line is built from Marquette to Negaunee.

1856 - First Catholic priest arrives in Marquette. - Amos Harlow and Charles Harvey found first Presbyterian congregation out of the Harlow home. - St. Paul's Episcopal Church is established in Marquette.

1857 - Peter White marries Ellen Hewitt, daughter of Dr. Morgan Hewitt.  White becomes a land agent in Marquette.  White also wins land grant in Michigan legislature for railroad to be built in Marquette.  The city honors him by referring to him as The Honorable Peter White. - First UP state road links Marquette to Lanse.  Regular stagecoaches begin between cities until railroad lines are built. - Robert Graveraet becomes first state senator from Marquette County.

1857 - 1858 - First pocket dock erected in Marquette by Cleveland Company with 100 pockets.  It is believed Marquette will now become greatest port on Lake Superior and be capable of handling all iron ore shipped for many years to come.

1859 - State road built to link Marquette to Bay de Noc. - February 18, 1859:  Marquette officially incorporated as a village. - Property for first high school donated.

1860 - Marquette's population reaches 1,000.

1861 - The Civil War begins.  Upper Michigan sends a company for the Michigan 27th, including many Marquette men.  Upper Michigan's Iron Ore a major resource for the Union to win the war.

1863 - Neighboring town of Harvey founded after the original Chocolay settlement destroyed by fire.

1864 - Completion of the Bay de Nocquet and Marquette Railroad's pocket dock, 30 feet high. - Peter White opens the First National Bank on May 10, 1864.  Samuel Ely is president. - Cornerstone laid for St. Peter's Cathedral.  Diocese now officially the Diocese of Marquette and Sault Sainte Marie.

1866 - Bishop Baraga dedicates the cathedral to St. Peter.

1867 - Peter White builds his first house on Ridge street. - Ursuline nuns found Marquette's first Catholic school.

1868 - Bishop Frederic Baraga dies.  Succeeded by Bishop Mrak. - Marquette and Pacific Rolling Mill begins operations.  Fails in

1884. - Marquette Burns.  Nearly 75% of city destroyed, including the entire business district and 2 of 3 docks.  The residents are determined to rebuild.  All business buildings must be built of stone from that time on, resulting in many fine examples of Lake Superior Sandstone architecture. - Alfred Swineford starts The Mining Journal. - The Fisher Street School is built. - Peter White is delegate for efforts for U.P. Statehood which fail.

1869 - Peter White named president of First National Bank of Marquette for rest of his life.

1870 - Jacobs takes over sandstone quarry.

1871 - Compulsory school attendance begins in Michigan

1872 - Samuel Ely becomes Marquette mayor.  To celebrate his friend's success, Peter White begins the first city library. - Marquette becomes connected to national railroads via Escanaba, Menominee, Chicago.

1873 - A financial panic causes many prominent Marquette citizens to move back East. - John Longyear comes to Upper Michigan as a landlooker. - First Methodist Church, Marquette's first sandstone structure built by Jacobs, erected on corner of Ridge and Front Street.

1874 - Charles Harvey builds the elevated railroad in New York City. - Harlow's Wooden Man is built. - First telegraph lines connect Marquette to Western Union. - Alfred Swineford becomes mayor of Marquette.  He makes new efforts for U.P. Statehood. - St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Ridge Street begins construction.

1875 - Peter White gets legislative grant to build railroad from Sault Sainte Marie to Marquette. - Chandler runs as US Senator with goal to make U.P. separate state.

1877 - Park Cemetery opens, although had already been site of graveyard for several years.

1878 - Marquette Schools library books get home in First National Bank Building.

1879 - John M. Longyear marries Mary Beecher. - Bishop Mrak resigns his office because of ill health.  Succeeded by Bishop John Vertin, the first Catholic bishop consecrated in the Marquette diocese.  Bishop Vertin transfers St. Peter's priest.  On October 2, St. Peter's Cathedral burns down.  Rumors say it was done by parishioners angry at the bishop for their priest's transfer.

1881 - The Detroit Mackinac Railroad begins providing service over Mackinac Straits to lower Michigan. - June 19:  Cornerstone laid for new St. Peter's Cathedral.

1882 - Alfred Swineford builds home on Cedar Street.  Home includes several chimneys and an elevator.

1883 - The Messiah Lutheran Church is built on Ridge Street.

1884 - Peter White builds a camp along the Laughing Whitefish River.

1885 - U.S. President Grover Cleveland appoints Alfred Swineford as Governor of Alaska.

1886 - Peter White presents Presque Isle Park as a gift to the City of Marquette.  He states:  "The park belongs to the people of Marquette and must be preserved for all who in years to come shall call Marquette "home"."

1887 - Peter White donates money to build the Morgan Chapel onto St. Paul's Episcopal Church in memory of his son Morgan who died young.

1888 - Soo Line Railroad begins providing service from Sault Sainte Marie to Minneapolis with stop in Marquette.

1889-1892 - The Longyear Mansion is built.  Includes 65 rooms and a bowling alley in the basement.  Covers an entire city block on Ridge and Cedar streets.

1889 - Marquette Branch State Prison is built. - Marquette Post Office built at corner of Washington and Third Street.

1890 - St. Peter’s Cathedral consecrated for use. - Ely Elementary School built on Bluff Street.  Will later serve as the elementary school for St. John the Baptist's Catholic Church. - First street cars in Marquette

1891 - Harlow Wooden Man featured in a mock marriage ceremony. - Cleveland Iron Mining Co. and Iron Cliffs Co merge to form Cleveland-Cliffs Co. Ishpeming and Negaunee celebrate July 4th with Marquette - 5000 visitors for         biggest celebration yet in Marquette. - Hotel Superior built. - Establishment of the Huron Mountain Club, an exclusive hunting and fishing club north of Marquette.  Members will include the Longyears, Peter White, and Henry Ford.

1892 - New efforts for U.P. Statehood.  The U.P. now has 180,000 residents, more than five other states currrently in the Union. - Peter White gives the city library the Thurber block, later the site of the Nordic Theater on Washington Street. - The Marquette Opera House is opened, following funding efforts by Peter White and John M. Longyear.

1895 - Homer Kidder records Ojibwa tales of Chief Charles Kawbawgam.

1897 - Father Marquette statue is dedicated beside the new city waterworks building.  Statue is said suspiciously to resemble Peter White who commissioned it. St. Luke's Hospital opens on Ridge Street.  It will later become Marquette General Hospital.

1899 - Northern State Normal School founded.  In dedication speech, Peter White declares Marquette will become an “Athens” of the North.

1900 - Howard Longyear drowns.  His parents John and Mary Longyear wish to dedicate a park along the lakeshore for him but the city instead allows a railroad to be built angering Mrs. Longyear, who vows never to return to Marquette. - The Froebel School connected elementary, high and manual training building begin construction.

1901 - Captain Cleary’s lifesaving crew from Marquette gives demonstration at the PanAmerican exhibition in New York where U.S. President McKinley is assasinated. - Louis G. Kaufman of Marquette gains majority control of First National Bank stock, but Peter White remains its president. - The Citizen's Home (the Marquette Poor Farm, later the Brookridge Estate) is built in South Marquette. - July 15, 1901 - Marquette's record hottest day, 108 degrees. Men took off their coats and walked around in just shirtsleeves!

1902 - Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show comes to Marquette. - The Hotel Superior closes. - Charles Kawbawgam, last Chief of the Chippewa, dies and is buried at Presque Isle.  His wife Charlotte is buried beside him in 1904.

1903 - Still angry at the City of Marquette, the Longyears have their enormous mansion dismantled and shipped on railroad car to Brookline, Massachusetts.

1904 - Peter White library built at present location on Front and Ridge Streets.  Originally includes a “men only” smoking room in basement. - Marquette County Courthouse opened. - September 17, 1904 - day of great Civic Pride for Marquette since both buildings are officially opened. - Old County Courthouse is dismantled and lumber sold to Catholic Diocese for building of the Bishop Baraga school. - Local author, Carroll Watson Rankin, publishes her popular children's novel Dandelion Cottage.

1905 - Peter White organizes 50th anniversary celebrations of the Soo Locks. - The Bijou opens - Marquette’s first movie theatre.

1908 - Peter White dies while climbing steps of Detroit City Hall.  The Mining Journal runs a special edition in his memory. - The ship Clemson sinks in Lake Superior.

1910 - St. John the Baptist Catholic Church built on Washington and Fourth Streets.

1911 - Howard Taft is first U.S. President to visit Marquette.

1913 - The ship Henry Smith sinks in Lake Superior. - The famous Theodore Roosevelt trial takes place at the Marquette County Courthouse when an Ishpeming reporter slanders the former U.S. president in print by calling him a drunkard.  Roosevelt wins the trial.

1914 - The Delft Theatre opens.

1915 - The Holy Family Orphanage opens.  It will be the Catholic children's orphanage until 1965. - A new St. Luke's Hospital is built in North Marquette. 1916 - Prohibition begins in Marquette County.  The entire nation will be under prohibition from 1920-1933.

1917 - Five ships trapped in ice on Lake Superior in month of May near Marquette. Marquette sends its young men as enlisted soldiers to train at Fort Custer for World War I.

1918 - Marquette County Historical Society is founded.

1920 - Ferry service begins at the Mackinac Straits to transport vehicles between Upper and Lower Michigan.

1921 - Marquette Branch Prison Riot.

1922 - The City of Marquette buys Laurium's Palestra iceskating building and moves it to Marquette. - J.M. Longyear dies.

1924 - Marquette’s worst murder spree.  Oscar Lampinen kills three men before Officer Walter Tippet shoots him.

1927 - The new First National Bank is built on the corner of Washington and Front Streets, the most expensive building per square foot built to date in the world.

1928 - Northern Normal School becomes Northern State Teachers College.

1929 - The Great Depression begins across the nation.

1931 - July 2:  WBEO, the Mining Journal's Radio Station begins broadcasting.  First radio station in Upper Michigan.

1935 - St. Peter's Cathedral burns again. - The Presbyterian Church on Front Street opens. - Marquette's last streetcar quits running.

1936 - The Nordic Theatre opens.

1937 - The second Marquette Post Office at Washington and Third Street opens.

1938 - During a blizzard, Marquette's downtown catches fire.  Rumored that a scandal in the Episcopal Church resulted in the burning of documents in the church's downtown office, which caused the fire.  The Episcopal bishop had apparently been investing in Chicago nightclubs.  Among other buildings, Marquette's Opera House is destroyed.

1941 - Northern State Teacher's College becomes Northern Michigan College of Education. - U.S. enters World War II.  Local volunteers watch the city skies from fear of air raids by the Nazis to bomb the ore docks.

1942 - Louis G Kaufman, president of First National Bank, dies. - George Shiras, famous local photographer and Peter White's son-in-law dies. - St. Michael's Catholic Church is established in a former dormitory bought from Northern Michigan College of Education.

1949 - Marquette's Centennial.  Celebrations include a beard growing contest and judging for best historical costumes.  Marquette holds its biggest parade to date.

1952 - Mike Chenoweth, winner of the centennial beard growing contest, is murdered in Big Bay.  The murder will become the source of local writer John Voelker's Anatomy of a Murder.

1954 - Mackinac Bridge, world's longest suspension bridge, begins construction to link Upper and Lower Michigan.  It opens to traffic in 1957.

1955 - Northern Michigan Teachers College becomes Northern Michigan College.

1956 - Marquette’s first Television station, WLUC TV 6 begins programming.

1957 - Peter White library adds its annex.

1959 - Anatomy of a Murder, based on John Voelker's novel (written under pseudonym Robert Travers) is filmed in Marquette County by Otto Preminger and stars James Stewart, Lee Remick, and many others.  Marquette is "starstruck".

1960 - The new Messiah Lutheran Church opens on Fourth and Magnetic Streets.

1962 - Nation's first snowmobile race takes place in Marquette.

1963 - Northern Michigan College becomes Northern Michigan University.

1965 - Bothwell Middle School opens. - First Baptist Church on Front St. burns down.  A new church is built near Northern Michigan University. - The Messiah Lutheran Church is destroyed.

1970s - The U.S. 41 bypass is built, resulting in decline of downtown Marquette and the opening of Shopko, Kmart, and Marquette Mall.

1972 - Efforts begin for the canonization to sainthood of Bishop Frederic Baraga. - Public TV 13 (PBS) begins broadcasting at Northern Michigan University. - Marquette Mall opens, the largest mall in Upper Michigan.

1973 - St. Luke's Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital merge to become Marquette General Hospital.

1974 - Palestra Ice Rink torn down and replaced by the Lakeview Arena.

1975 - U.P statehood on ballots in Marquette and Iron Mountain, but defeated 37.1% For, 62.9% Against.

1978 - State Representative Dominic Jacobetti introduces bill for U.P. separation from Michigan and Upper Michigan statehood, but never brought to vote in State House of Representatives.

1985 - The historic Delft Theatre becomes a two screen movie house.  Formerly it had had the largest movie screen in Upper Michigan.

1986 - John the Baptist’s Catholic Church is demolished to become a parking lot.  The belltower is preserved.  Its rose window now hangs in St. Michael's Parish.

1989 - Northern Michigan University begins constructing the Superior Dome, the world's largest wooden dome.  It is affectionately nicknamed "The Yooper Dome".

1992 - The Brookridge Estate (Marquette's Poor Farm) is destroyed.  It will be replaced by the Brookridge Assisted Living Facility. - John D. Pierce School is destroyed, Northern Michigan University's original Teaching School.

1993 - Northern Michigan University's historic Longyear Hall, the last of its original buildings, is demolished despite public controversy.  Ironically, NMU then begins preparing for its 100th anniversary by locating historical sites on campus.

1994 - U.S. Vice President Al Gore visits Marquette. - The Historic Delft Theatre becomes Five screens, and the GKC Royal Cinema opens with 10 screens.

1995 - The Nordic Theatre, site of An Anatomy of a Murder's World Premier, closes.  The building is turned into Bookworld. - K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base closes, effecting the local economy.

1999 - Marquette's Sesquicentennial.  Completion of the Presque Isle Pavilion - a gift to the city from the people of Marquette. - Northern Michigan University constructs its Seaborg Center and Berry Events Center.

2000 - Removal of the LS&I trestle in downtown Marquette. - Upfront & Co., a restaurant and nightclub, opens in the old Rosewood Inn. - The Peter White Public Library holds its grand opening of its renovated building.

2001 - Controversy over deer being shot at Presque Isle Park - angry citizens refer to the event as Blood Island. - Stand Up for Iron Ore rally against steel imports held at the Superior Dome. - Sept 11:  A plane of Japanese tourists make an emergency landing in Marquette during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  The Great Lakes and Marquette's Harbor are under security watch.

2002 - Numerous of Peter White's original lombardy populars are removed because they are dead or diseased along Lakeshore Avenue.

2003 - The historical Jacobs House is torn down on Front Street. - The Great Flood:  May 11-12 heavy rains cause flooding.  May 14-15, the dam at the Silver Lake Basin breaks.  The Dead River overflows several feet above regular levels.  All of Marquette north of Wright Street is evacuated, from fear it will be underwater if the Hoist Dam also breaks.  2000 people are evacuated.  The bridge over the Dead River to Presque Isle park is wiped out, prohibiting access to the Presque Isle Power Plant, resulting in the Empire and Tilden mines being shut down and people in Big Bay being without power.  Tourist Park's beach is destroyed and the former lake becomes a river.

2004 - Marquette is named an All-America City, one of only ten in the U.S. - July 13, 2004 - President George W. Bush campaigns at the Superior Dome.  He is only the second U.S. president to visit Marquette while in office.

2005 - International Finn Fest is held.  Marquette's all time largest celebration.

2006 - Tyler R. Tichelaar begins publishing his series of historical Marquette novels. - Starbucks, Quiznos, and Papa Murphy's open. The founder of Starbucks is a graduate from Marquette's Northern Michigan University.

2007 - The Northwoods Supper Club closes after more than seventy years in business. - June 20, 2007 - the Great Hail Storm hits Marquette, damaging automobiles and homes. The streets are flooded, leaves and brush are left behind, and it is several days before the golf-ball size hail melts. - June 23, 2007 - The Shamrock Bar, after a hundred years in business, closes in Downtown Marquette closes. It is bought by the Wahlstrom family to be turned into a steakhouse.