Central Ironwood

A glorious explosion of colorful items awaits the visitor to Dan's Antique Mall. And it has all been collected by Dan himself.

Downtown Ironwood has a wonderful old movie theater that can be toured, an amazing municipal building, and some interesting shops and restaurants—more life that first meets the eye. Downtown's center is where Suffolk (Business Route U.S. 2) meets Aurora, the main shopping street. A pretty pocket park with flowers, benches, and changing seasonal decorations, fills the corner gap created by the demolition of a landmark sandstone building. The garden club keeps it up.

Aurora continues west across the Montreal River into Hurley, Wisconsin. There it becomes Silver Street. The first block is still lined with bars from the Prohibition years, when Hurley was a wide-open town famous for taverns, brothels, and visits by celebrated Chicago gangsters.

Ironwood, in contrast, was controlled by mining company bigwigs and leading businesspeople. Its residential "show streets" extend east on Ayer and on McLeod, which parallels Aurora one block to the north and south of it. Major churches clustered conspicuously on the hill at the east end of Aurora at Marquette.

The heart of downtown is along Business Route 2, on Suffolk south of the train tracks and then west on Aurora. Sights are arranged from north to south.

This remarkable 1892 passenger depot reflects the wealth from the area's iron mining in that era. The railroad line took iron ore to docks in Ashland, Wisconsin. Today the depot houses a fine local history museum and the Chamber of Commerce.

♦ OLD DEPOT PARK MUSEUM. The handsome 1892 Romanesque Revival depot, in excellent condition, houses the Ironwood area museum and the Ironwood Historical Society research center. (The Chamber of Commerce is also in the depot, open weekdays throughout the year.) The museum's next room, originally the ticket agent's room, features artifacts of businesses from around 1900, It is organized like a store.
Thoughtful exhibits give an overview of mining, with artifacts and maps. Artifacts reflecting social history and town history are here, while graphic displays of those subjects, giving a look at local history from pre-exploration to the present, are in the Ironwood Memorial Building.
Note the dramatic and poignant newspaper clippings, for instance, about the 43 miners trapped for 129 hours in a 1926 cave-in at the Pabst Mine—an event dealt with in more detail at the Memorial Building. Much more material, including many photos and printed matter about many aspects of Ironwood life, is in files. Visitors can make appointments to see them in the archives by calling Ironwood Area Historical Society president Gary Harrington at (906) 932-3934. 150 N. Lowell west of Suffolk, clearly visible to your right from Bus. Rte. 2/Suffolk just before you reach the center of town. (906) 932-0287. Open daily with guided tours from Mem. to Labor Day, noon-4. Otherwise by appt. (call 932-3934). Donations appreciated.

♦ NORTHWIND NATURAL FOOD CO-OP. This spacious co-op is a good place to find camping goodies like granola, trail mixes, juices, cheese, crackers, farm-fresh eggs, and pancake mix. Organic produce is available year-round. Products include honey, frozen fish, and berries and vegetables when available. 210 S. Suffolk/Bus. U.S. 2 just south of Aurora. (906) 932-3547. Summer/fall hours: Mon-Wed 9-6 Thurs & Fri 9-7, Sat 9-6. Call to confirm winter hours. Wheelchair-accessible.

This pocket park at Aurora and Suffolk, landscaped and maintained by volunteers, shows how the loss of a prominent building doesn't have to wreck the appearance of a downtown.

♦ POCKET PARK. Flowers fill the gap left when a large landmark sandstone bank building, badly deteriorated, was taken down. Benches let you sit down and enjoy the floral specatcle.
Downtown at Aurora and Suffolk/Bus. Rte. U.S. 2.
♦ IRONWOOD THEATRE. Part Moorish, part Italian Renaissance, this 730-seat theater was the Upper Peninsula's biggest picture palace when it was finished in 1928. Recent restorations have gold-leafed the interior pilasters and proscenium and again revealed elaborate painted decorations. Generations of local youth were enthralled by the murals' alluring female nudes and plump cherubs cavorting on clouds on the ceiling.
     Most of the theater's furnishings are intact, but the murals had been painted over in a misguided attempt to brighten up the place for a locally filmed scene in "Adventures of a Young Man" (1962), about the young Ernest Hemingway/Nick Adams returning from World War I. The Ironwood premiere with stars Paul Newman and Jessica Tandy on hand was a big, big local event. Critics called the film "overblown," "pretentious," and "embarrassing."

The Ironwood Theater has both a cool bronze marquee and a terrific neon sign. The interior of this 1928 Moorish-Italian Renaissance picture palace is even more alluring.

        Today the Ironwood Theatre hosts a variety of concerts, plays, and other events, some homegrown, others not. The theater's original two-rank Barton theater organ, a wonderful attraction, has been restored. For events and a look at vintage theater photos, visit ironwoodtheatre.net, or call (906) 932-0618. Theater tours ($3) are by appointment, possibly right away if the volunteer staff has time.
107 E. Aurora. (906) 932-0618. Staffed Wed-Fri 11-5 Central Time. Wheelchair-accessible except for restrooms. Women's restroom on main floor, men's downstairs.
♦ DAN'S ANTIQUE MALL. Two large floors are stuffed with things Dan himself has picked. It's a visual treat and a fun place to browse. You can find a lot from the 1940s and 1950s. The stock is arranged in appealing tableaux. 111 E. Aurora next to the Ironwood Theater. (906) 932-5002. Open 7 days a week, year-round, 10-5 Central Time. Wheelchair access: main level.

Inndustrious owner Joanne Kuula looks up a design on her computer at the front of the Fabric Patch.

♦ FABRIC PATCH. 3,500 bolts of fabric make this a paradise for quilters, from beginners to experts. It has an eclectic selection of fabrics for many tastes including traditional; bright and contemporary; northwoods; Civil War, 1930s and 1950s reproductions; and two walls of hand-dyed Indonesian batiks. The shop's roomy home is a four-square doctor's house/office from 1898. There's space for displays of vivid quilts, hangings, and quilted accessories made by 10 or so area quilters.

100 W. McLeod at Lowell, a block south of Aurora's downtown block. (906) 932-5260. Mon-Fri 9:30-5, Sat to 4. Wheelchair accessible except for 2nd floor.
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