Bessemer, Michigan
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1943 and the latest in 1980. It stands in Bessemer Township. It lies in ZIP code area 49911. The Survey maps it on the Bessemer quadrangle. 1,805 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,427 feet above sea level.
On record in Bessemer
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 1 record
Gogebic County Courthouselisted 1981
Population over time
3 figuresBessemer fell from 2,566 to 1,805 between 1890 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 2,566 | |
| 2010 | 1,905 | |
| 2020 | 1,805 | -100 (-5%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 11 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1943 USGS Ironwood quadrangle1:48000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Ashland quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1955 USGS Bessemer quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Ironwood quadrangle1:62500, 2 printings
- 1958 USGS Ashland quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Ironwood quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
13 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of Bessemer between 1992 and 2020, burning about 11 acres in total. 2 started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Natural | 2 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 September 2020 | Natural | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | BESSEMER FD 0200913 - 2020 |
| 10 June 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 6 May 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | 1.5 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | WAKEFIELD FD 0540001 - 2020 |
| 3 May 2003 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 24 May 2012 | Natural | under an acre | Ottawa National Forest | MARGARET |
| 1 May 1994 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 30 April 1995 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Michigan Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 53 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 53 workings within 5 miles of Bessemer: 37 past producers, 12 occurrences, 3 producers, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Lead. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gogebic County Quarries | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed Lead Prospect | Lead | Occurrence | ||
| Cebolski Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Les Johnson Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Randall Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Anvil-Palms-Keeweenaw Group | Iron | Past Producer | 1886, 1887 | |
| Anvil-Palms-Keweenaw Group | Iron | Past Producer | 1887, 1957 | |
| Chicago- Includes Former Sparta | Iron | Past Producer | 1892 | |
| Colby Mine | Iron | Past Producer | 1884, 1923 | |
| Colby Mine | Iron | Past Producer | 1884 |
Storms near this place
15 since 1999Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bessemer in 15 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 8 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessemer | $10,000 | Trees down on camping vehicles. |
| June 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessemer | $8,000 | Law enforcement reported numerous trees and power lines down in Bessemer via Public Safety Radio. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessemer | $5,000 | The Gogebic County Dispatch reported power lines down in Bessemer. Wind gusts at the Ironwood ASOS were measured at 50 mph, but were probably higher in Bessemer where wind damage occurred. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessemer | $3,000 | The sheriff received reports of numerous trees and power lines downed across Gogebic county. The public also reported an 8-inch diameter dead tree snapped at the base and a portable basketball hoop that broke in half. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessemer | $1,000 | Law enforcement dispatch reported a tree down in Bessemer. Time of the report was estimated from radar. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Bessemer | $1,000 | There was a delayed report from Ottawa National Forest Park rangers of large tree limbs in excess of 12 inches snapped at the Black River Harbor Recreational Area campground site. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessemer | $1,000 | A few trees and a power line were knocked down in Bessemer. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Bessemer | - | Pictures via Facebook from Bessemer of large hailstones ranging from 1.25 to 2.00 inches in diameter. Time of the report was estimated from radar. |
| June 2022 | Hail | North Bessemer | - | Report via Facebook of dime to quarter-sized hail three miles northwest of Bessemer. |
| May 2007 | Hail | Bessemer | - | Dime to nickel-sized hail. |
| July 2006 | Hail | Bessemer | - | Hail lasted for five to ten minutes. |
| July 2006 | Heavy Rain | Bessemer | - | Thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall of 4 to 6 inches over much of western Gogebic County during the early morning hours of the 29th. Minor street flooding was reported in the Bessemer, Wakefield and Marenisco areas as well as flooding on Bingham Creek near Lake Gogebic. |
| July 2000 | Hail | Bessemer | - | Dime sized hail at Black River Park |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bessemer | - | Many trees and power poles down. |
| August 2025 | Hail | North Bessemer | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yale | 1.2 miles | 11 | |
| Anvil | 2.0 miles | 11 | |
| North Bessemer | 2.1 miles | 9 | |
| Siemens | 2.7 miles | 11 | |
| Ramsay | 3.1 miles | 13 | |
| Verona | 3.4 miles | 13 | |
| Auvinen Corner | 3.5 miles | 9 | |
| Plymouth | 4.1 miles | 13 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Bessemer | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q670631 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 621184. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





