Ishpeming celebrates history with home and business tour

Ishpeming’s history and heritage will come to life this weekend during the Historical Society’s annual home and business tour.

Stories depicting the sights and sounds of each of the five venue’s lineage will allow residents to reconnect with their roots at places like the Tap Room at the Mather Inn, Bell Forest Products, and two historically preserved homes.

“We have a wonderful older home that is on the corner of Third and North Street, and it’s been on the tour before, but the owner continues to restore and refurbish and refurnish the home, so it looks great and a little different from when it was on the tour about ten years ago, and lastly, I’m delighted to say that we have on Mather Avenue a really, really architecturally designed mid-century home that is quite, quite snappy – lots of built-ins – even has an elevator,” said IAHS Vice President David Aeh. “So that is something that’s a little bit interesting and a little bit different for us.”

Rare Earth Goods, a new venue on this year’s tour, will be providing food and refreshments for the event. The natural foods and art gallery used to be the American Cafe way back when, and as a special treat, one of the original owners will be on hand to dish out a little history.

The event serves as a fundraiser for the Historical Society, which helps fund further discovery and preservation efforts.

“It’s a case where a $10 donation – a hundred percent of the money supports the Ishpeming Area Historical Society, which is a non-for-profit organization, so we really look forward to everyone coming out and enjoying the town, enjoying the day, and enjoying the tour,” Aeh added.

The tour runs from noon to 5:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at any of the venues on the day of the tour. Advance tickets can also be purchased at the Main Street Antique Mall, Midtown Bakery and Cafe in Negaunee, and the Greater Ishpeming Negaunee Chamber of Commerce.