M-95, designated the Leif Erickson Memorial Highway, is a state trunkline highway in the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

of the US state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Running from Kingsford to near

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in Humboldt Township, it is the main connection between Iron Mountain and Marquette along with US Highway 41 (US 41). M-95 was previously designated as M-45. The number was switched when US 45 was designated in Michigan. The trunkline incorporates a portion of the former M-12 which became US 2. A section of the highway near Republic was turned over to Marquette County during a rerouting of the highway in the 1940s, becoming County Road 601.

Route description

Starting on a bridge across the

Menominee River The Menominee River is a river in northwestern Michigan and northeastern Wisconsin in the United States. It is approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed Dece ...

, M-95 runs north along Carpenter Avenue in Kingsford. It turns east along Ludington Street in Iron Mountain and joins the

US 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whi ...

US 141 US Highway 141 (US 141) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in the states of Wisconsin and Michigan. The highway runs north-northwesterly from an interchange with Interstate 43 (I-43) in Bellevue, Wisconsin, near Green ...

concurrency out of town to the north, following Stephenson Avenue. Near the state line northwest of Iron Mountain, M-95 turns northward as a solo route through northern

Dickinson County Dickinson County is the name of three counties in the United States: * Dickinson County, Iowa * Dickinson County, Kansas * Dickinson County, Michigan See also * Dickenson County, Virginia Dickenson County is a county located in the Commonw ...

. There is a concurrency with M-69 from Randville to Sagola. Randville is just south of the junction with M-69 where the mining settlement formed because of the nearby Groveland Mine and was a station on the Milwaukee and Northern Railroad in 1880. A post office was in operation in Randville from 1891 until 1932. Channing depot

Near Sagola is a mill owned by

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that makes

oriented strand board Oriented strand board (OSB) is a type of engineered wood similar to particle board, formed by adding adhesives and then compressing layers of wood strands (flakes) in specific orientations. It was invented by Armin Elmendorf in California in 1963. ...

(OSB). The surrounding forest lands near the highway provide trees for the mill. Sagola was formed, when in about 1885, five Chicago men formed the Sagola Lumber Company to harvest pine timber in the area. The name was derived from the local Indian word for "welcome". A post office was first established there in 1889. North of Sagola is the community of Channing which began as a railroad junction called "Fort Siding". In 1892, a post office was established named Channing, after John Parke Channing, a mining engineer who surveyed the area. M-95 crosses the Michigamme River at the Marquette County line. It is here that M-95 also crosses over from the

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to the

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at the county line south of Witch Lake. From there it bypasses

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

and the former Republic Mine Complex to the west. Republic is divided into two smaller communities of North Republic and South Republic by the mine complex. Known for its sandy beachfront along the Michigamme River west of downtown North Republic, the beach is located just upstream of the Republic Dam. In South Republic is a roadside park maintained by the

Michigan Department of Transportation The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interstate ...

(MDOT) that provides a picnic area and canoe access to the river. M-95 comes to an end north of a railroad crossing at an intersection with US 41/ M-28 named "Koski's Korner".

History

From its inception until 1934, M-95 held the M-45 designation. It was renumbered to avoid confusion with the then new

US 45 U.S. Route 45 (US 45) is a major north-south United States highway and a border-to-border route, from Lake Superior to the Gulf of Mexico. A sign at the highway's northern terminus notes the total distance as . US 45 is notable for incorporatin ...

designation in the Upper Peninsula. The original M-95 was an access route to Onaway State Park which was redesignated as M-211. The original roadway that became today's M-95 started in Sagola and run northward to M-15 (today US 41/M-28). M-45 was extended by 1927 to replace portions of M-12 that were not used in

. It would later be extended in 1932 to the state line south of Kingsford. The total of M-45 was converted to M-95 in 1934 as a realignment near Witch Lake is completed. M-95 was rerouted in 1942 from Republic north to Humboldt Township. This new section replaced the last section of gravel roadway that was transferred to Marquette County as County Road 601. Another rerouting in the Republic area moved the trunkline in 1957 to bypass South Republic. The former roadway was partially closed to become part of the Republic Mine. M-69 was shortened, eliminating the concurrency with M-95 in 1960 or 1961. M-69 was re-extended back to its pre-1960 routing in 1991, restoring the concurrency in the process.

Major intersections

References

External links

M-95
at Michigan Highways {{DEFAULTSORT:M095

095 95 or 95th may refer to: * 95 (number) * one of the years 95 BC, AD 95, 1995, 2095, etc. * 95th Division (disambiguation) * 95th Regiment ** 95th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation) * 95th Squadron (disambiguation) * Atomic number 95: americium *M ...

Transportation in Dickinson County, Michigan Transportation in Marquette County, Michigan