BESSEMER

Overlooking Bessemer's main street is its unusual Tudor city hall, designed by local, self-taught architect Albert Nelson in the mid-1930s. Its attractive details and stonework wouldn't have been possible without federal funding during the Depressoin. Inside are showcases containing 120 years' worth of ornate fire department trophies and other prizes.

Bessemer, the Gogebic County seat, is at the midpoint of the Gogebic Iron Range. The Milwaukee, Lake Superior & Western railroad platted the village when its rail line reached it in 1884. Its president, Frederick Rhinelander, named it for Sir Henry Bessemer, inventor of the Bessemer process of making steel of pig iron. It's locally pronounced "BEZ-muhr." The first mine on the Gogebic Range was the Colby Mine southwest of town between Old County Road and Burma Road.

Ensconsed in a little bowl with backdrops of dramatic rocky outcrops, Steiger Field is a delicious sight for those who have grown up with baseball.

Today Bessemer's major employer is Bessemer Plywood, which uses the U.P.'s plentiful aspen and other trees to produce large quantities of plywood sheets. It's actually just north of the onetime mining village of Yale, on the beautiful Old County Road that connects Ironwood and Wakefield to the south. If you take that drive with children, they can play at the playground outside Bessemer Plywood's main office. (The mine owners must have had a connection with Yale the college, since the name of Yale's main street is Eli, as in Eli Yale the Connecticut merchant whose money gave Yale its start.)

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Bob Sampson bakes his delicious Italian hard rolls at the unpretentious Bread of Life bakery in this huge round rotisserie oven, today virtually an antique. Fans who grew up on good Italian hard rolls have them shipped.

Bessemer has some unusually attractive features. Take Moore Street north across U.S. 2 at the light, and in two blocks you'll come to a beautiful park and recreation complex. A red rock cliff looms in the distance behind Massie Field (dubbed "Home of the Speedboys" of Bessemer High) on Moore Street, and Steiger Little League Field, tucked in a natural bowl just west off Silver Street. Local signs proclaim Steiger Field as "the most scenic Little League baseball park in America," and it just may be. A creek where you can often see frogs runs through Bluff Valley Park, where there are picnic tables, a pavilion, and tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts. Across the foot bridge a rather strenuous trail leads up the bluff, which offers a fine view of Bessemer and the Colby Mine site to the south.

Half a block north of U.S. 2 on Sophie (a block east of Moore), the BREAD OF LIFE BAKERY (906-663-4005) with a general bakery line. It's especially known for breads. Its Italian hard rolls are so good that an Italian man in Chicago has them shipped. The subs are creditable, too, especially considering the ridiculously low price. A separate room, no smoking, nothing fancy, has tables and chairs. Open Mon-Fri 8-6, Sat 8-1. Wheelchair-accessible. .

Residential streets around downtown Bessemer have some fine examples of classic bungalows and other early 20th-century Arts & Crafts architectural styles.

Abelman's is a rarity—a small-town department store that has survived for over a century. It keeps going by offering a large selection of brand-name jeans and casual clothes and functional outerwear.

The well-built downtown, two blocks long, marches up the hill on Sophie Street from the railroad tracks and the Dairy Queen to a high point capped by the handsome, beautifully detailed Tudor-style BESSEMER CITY HALL and COMMUNITY BUILDING. A WPA project from 1934-6, it includes a library and auditorium in addition to a firehouse and city offices. Exhibits document its construction as a Depression-era make-work project and show off decades of trophies from local firefighters and athletic teams. The oriel window in the tower offers a grand view of main street (it's called Sophie Street) and a backdrop of distant blue hills. In her detailed survey of historic architecture in Michigan, Buildings of Michigan, Kathryn Eckert writes, "The building demonstrates the artistic ability of this very interesting Ironwood architect [N. Albert Nelson]. . . . He studied architecture by correcpondence with a technical school in Sweden, from where he emigrated, and learned through on-the-job experience." City Hall is wheelchair-accessible on main floor & lower-level library. Use the door on the east side.

A few years ago empty storefronts set the tone on Sophie Street, with the exception of Abelman Clothing, founded in 1887. Today, however, the Downtown Development Authority is teaming up with a few energetic rehabbers to make it a much livelier place. Here are downtown highlights, arranged from U.S. 2 south.

• ABELMAN CLOTHING is a one-stop shop for quality footwear, skiwear, and clothing for men, women, children, and even junior girls. Brand names like Columbia, Carhartt, Woolrich, Folson, Red Wing, and Merrill have enabled Abelman's to make the transition from old-fashioned dry goods store to a current destination. Aspects of the original building remain, such as the original tin ceiling and wood floors. Founder Abe Abelman began as a peddler in 1887. He carried his pack and peddled from Bessemer to Chicago, bought new stock, and peddled back. 327 S. Sophie. (906) 663-4411 Open Mon-Sat 9-5, Fri to 6:30, Sun 12-4. www.abelmanclothing.com Wheelchair accessibility: men's side. Three steps with store assistance to women's side, or use rear entrance.