1950's Ironwood Progress Book Interesting Reading

IRONWOOD, MI - Wednesday, February 13, 2008 -  City Assessor, Dennis Hewitt, provided the Chronicle with a very rare find -- The City of Ironwood's 1952-1956 Progress Report. It's interesting to look into the past and see how drastically things have changed over the years. The City of Ironwood, at one time had a population of nearly 20,000 people. Our current population, according to Census estimates, is less than 6,000.

This informative booklet will take you back to a time when the City of Ironwood had a seven-person City Commission; separate police and fire departments; a Chief of Police overseeing 18 full-time police officers; a Fire Chief with a staff of 15 full-time fireman; a Municipal Judge; a full-time City Engineer; a gas department with a four-man gas plant staff; an administrative assistant; three full-time City Hall custodians; a full-time stenographer; a City Street Superintendent and a street department with a crew of 22 full-time employees; a full-time sanitation department staffed with 7 workers; and 5 full-time garage mechanics.

The booklet describes the City's 1956 Blacktopping Program in detail. It reflects a simpler time when US-2 (Cloverland Drive) was only two lanes, but about to be widened. The Armory was new, and the City was a major contributor to that project. Dollar values are spelled out to the penny. If you want to compare today's costs with those presented in the book, keep in mind that something costing $1.00 in 1952 would cost about $7.82 today, after adjusting for inflation.

To view the entire booklet, simply click the link in our "History" section or [CLICK HERE].

Jim Albert