Hurley, Wisconsin
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Hurley is a city in and the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Iron County, Wisconsin Iron County is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 6,137, making it the third-least populous county in Wisconsin. Its county seat is Hurl ...
, United States. The population was 1,558 at the 2020 census. It is located directly across the Montreal River from
Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County, Michigan, Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on U.S. Route 2 in Michigan, US Highway 2 across the Montreal River (Wisconsin-Michig ...
.


History

Hurley is located on the Montreal River, the border between Wisconsin and the
Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—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 b ...
of Michigan. The city is on U.S. Highway 2 (US 2), and is the northern terminus of US 51, and is about south of Lake Superior. Hurley had its origins in the iron mining and lumbering booms of the 1880s. The city is located, along with adjacent
Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County, Michigan, Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on U.S. Route 2 in Michigan, US Highway 2 across the Montreal River (Wisconsin-Michig ...
, at the center of the Gogebic Range. The economy of Hurley, together with the city of
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
in Wisconsin, and the cities of Ironwood, Bessemer and
Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...
in Michigan, was dependent upon the extraction of iron ore from the Gogebic (a/k/a Penokee) Range during the 19th and 20th centuries. Hurley took its name from Canadian-born M. A. Hurley, a prominent attorney of Wausau who won a lawsuit for the Northern Chief Iron Company in 1884. The compensation for winning the lawsuit was that he asked for no fee, but only requested that the town involved in the case be named after him. M.A. Hurley held stock in the Northern Chief Iron Company. The full name "Glen Hurley" was used for one year, but in 1885, the first name was dropped and the community became known as Hurley. The first Plat Map of Glen Hurley was recorded in the Ashland County Register of Deeds by C.N. Nutter, surveyor for the Northern Chief Iron Company of Wausau, in December 1884. Hurley did not become a city until April 1918. Previously, it was part of the town of Vaughn, named after Samuel S. Vaughn, pioneer resident of Ashland, for whom the Vaughn Public Library is named. When the city of Hurley was created, the town of Vaughn was dissolved and divided among the City of Hurley, the Town of Oma (Finnish for "Our Own"), the Town of Carey, and the Town of Kimball. Henry Meade was the first mayor of Hurley. John Ankers opened Hurley's first saloon and served as the first clerk for the Town of Vaughn, first Justice of the Peace, and first fire chief. In early November 1887, ten people were killed in a fire that started in a three-story theater and spread to other structures. The ''Gogebic Range Directory'' of 1888 states: "During the past summer, Hurley was twice visited by terrible fires. The first occurred of June 28 and the second on July 9. These destroyed almost the entire business portion of the city, and at first it was thought that they would prove a crushing blow to its prosperity, but later events have proven that they were blessings in disguise. The wonderful pluck and energy of its businessmen were fully demonstrated when they at once began the erection of fine brick buildings in the place of the wooden ones destroyed. The result has been that the burned portion has been rebuilt with brick and stone, making them nearly fireproof. And Silver Street is one that a much larger city could well be proud of."


Boundary dispute

Hurley was at the center of a boundary dispute between Michigan and Wisconsin, culminating in a United States Supreme Court case in 1926, confirming Hurley belonging to Wisconsin. The Montreal River was mapped in detail in 1841 by Lieutenant Thomas Jefferson Cram of the United States Land Office Department of Topography. Cram was assigned by Congress to survey the northeast boundary between Michigan and Wisconsin. This boundary had been originally outlined by Congress in 1834 on the basis of the faulty maps of the time which incorrectly showed both the Montreal and Menominee rivers originating from the Lac Vieux Desert in Vilas County. After a detailed survey, Cram located the headwaters of the Montreal 55 miles west of Lac Vieux Desert, and recommended the boundary line be run from the center of the lake to the headwaters of the Montreal. Michigan brought suit against Wisconsin to correct the boundary line between the two states. Michigan's claim included the City of Hurley and its valuable mineral deposits. Michigan's lawsuit, ''Michigan v. Wisconsin'' (270 U.S. 295, 1926), was dismissed by the US Supreme Court on the grounds that Wisconsin's long continued possession of the disputed property was acquiesced in by Michigan (P. 270, U.S. 301).


Prohibition

Hurley was a known gangster resort haven for mobsters in the twenties and thirties. According to an article in ''The Wisconsin Magazine of History'', Hurley was the most infamous town in Wisconsin during
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
. "Hurley: a notorious northern Wisconsin city with a long history of vice. Prohibition agents staged massive raids on Hurley, but each time the saloonkeepers paid their fines and went back to their usual business. On December 27, 1926, federal agents padlocked twenty-nine Hurley saloons in a single day. A 1931 raid closed forty-two saloons, resulting in the arrest of sixty people- one out of every forty Hurley residents. In an economy dependent on revenues from drinking, gambling, and prostitution, local officers looked the other way and the city continued its business, with routine harassment by enforcement officials. By 1929, federal officials were afoot in Wisconsin to assess changing conditions. Prohibition investigator Frank Buckley was most aghast at what he found during a visit to Hurley. He commented that Hurley 'has the distinction of being the worst community in the State....Gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, and dope are about the chief occupations of the place. Saloons there function with barmaids who serve the dual capacity of soda dispenser and prostitute.'"


Radar Bomb Scoring site

In the early 1960s, the US Air Force established a
Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...
(SAC) Radar Bomb Scoring site atop Norrie Hill in neighboring Ironwood, Michigan to track and score high altitude and treetop level simulated bomb runs by B-52s and B-47s on targets in the Hurley area. A monument is erected outside of Hurley to remember six crew members who were killed in two B-47 low level runs in 1961. The Radar Bomb Scoring site was moved to Charlevoix, Michigan in the mid-1960s.


Historic locations

The Old Iron County Courthouse (now the Iron County Historical Museum) was designed in the Richardsonian-Romanesque style by architect L.H. Ruggles. The building was completed in 1893 by contractors Rinkle and Carroll at a cost of $27,303. The original clock in the tower was installed by Chicago jeweler J.J. Neuhavre. Lightning struck the clock tower in June 1922 and set the tower ablaze. The original clock was destroyed and was replaced by an electric Seth Thomas clock at a cost of $1,348. The building served as the county courthouse until 1975. In 1977, it was sold to the Iron County Historical Society for $1. It has been listed on the National Register for Historic Places since 1977. It was considered "architecturally significant in an area where there are few comparable buildings." The building currently houses the Iron County Historical Museum, which features three floors of exhibits and a weaving room where volunteers use looms to make rag rugs. The Iron Exchange Bank of Hurley, was the oldest
bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
of the
Gogebic Range The Gogebic Range is an elongated area of iron ore deposits located within a range of hills in northern Michigan and Wisconsin just south of Lake Superior. It extends from Lake Namakagon in Wisconsin eastward to Lake Gogebic in Michigan, or alm ...
. It was organized on November 26, 1885. Dr. J.C. Reynolds, the bank's first president, and his brother, W. S. Reynolds, the bank's first cashier, were the prime movers in the organization of the institution. Associated with them in the organization were John E. Burton, Alvin E. Tyler, Edward Ryan, Nathaniel J. Moore, James A. Wood, and Shepherd Homans, all men prominent in the mining industry in the area in the early days. The first newspaper in Hurley was the ''Montreal River Miner'' which was first published on October 8, 1885. After absorbing the ''Iron County News'' in 1950 the two papers names were merged to form the ''Iron County Miner'', which is still published as a weekly. ''La Nostra Terra'' ("Our Land"), an Italian language newspaper, was published in Hurley from 1904 to 1913, when it merged into the ''Iron County News''. The first hotel was located at the corner of Second Avenue and Silver Street in a log building, with James Guest as the first landlord. The Burton House was an immense four-story frame hostelry, which was a famous gathering place in the latter part of the 19th century. John E. Burton, of Lake Geneva, erected the building in 1886. A mining speculator, his original wealth came from the iron range. Later he established offices in New York City and bought up other vast mining interests in Mexico and South America. The Burton Hotel contained 100 rooms, a ballroom, dining room, café, and clubrooms, all highly decorated and furnished with the best of the woodworkers' art of the time, and equipped with the best furniture. The Burton Hotel cost $35,000 to construct, and the furniture cost Burton $10,000. Many noteworthy people stayed at the Burton House: including
Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...
, in 1888, during his campaign for president; the actress
Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...
, who made at least three appearances in Hurley; the financier
Colgate Hoyt Colgate Hoyt (March 2, 1849 – January 30, 1922) was an American businessman active in the late nineteenth century. Early life Hoyt was born on March 2, 1849, in Cleveland, Ohio. He was one of six children born to Mary Ella (née Beebe) Hoyt (1 ...
, nephew of
James Boorman Colgate James Boorman Colgate (March 4, 1818 – February 7, 1904), son of William Colgate and Mary Gilbert, was an American financier and member of the Colgate family, founders of the Colgate-Palmolive conglomerate. Biography He was born in New York ...
, son of the British-American industrialist, Charles Colgate; the actor
Edwin Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American stage actor and theatrical manager who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Th ...
(brother of
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...
); and author and playwright
Edna Ferber Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), '' Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' Cima ...
.
Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States, serving from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. He was the first U.S. president to serve nonconsecutive terms and the first Hist ...
registered at the Burton House Saturday, October 5, 1889. By that time he had already served one term as president of the United States. In 1889 when he was in Hurley, he was a New York lawyer and businessman. Cleveland was elected to the presidency again in 1892. The Burton House burned to the ground on February 2, 1947, as the result of an over-heated stove on the first floor VFW meeting room.


Geography

Hurley is located at (46.450361, -90.189802). According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is across the state border and the Montreal River from
Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County, Michigan, Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on U.S. Route 2 in Michigan, US Highway 2 across the Montreal River (Wisconsin-Michig ...
, both cities located on the
Gogebic Range The Gogebic Range is an elongated area of iron ore deposits located within a range of hills in northern Michigan and Wisconsin just south of Lake Superior. It extends from Lake Namakagon in Wisconsin eastward to Lake Gogebic in Michigan, or alm ...
.


Climate

Hurley has a cool
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Dfb''), with long, cold winters and short, mild summers. In an average year the temperature drops below 32 °F (0 °C) on 192 days, and below 0 °F (-17.8 °C) on 40 days. Hurley is also one of the snowiest cities in the United States with an average of over 160 inches of snow per year due to
Lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises through colde ...
from nearby
Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...
.


Demographics


2010 census

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2010, there were 1,547 people, 771 households, and 360 families residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . There were 1,032 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.5%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.1%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 0.8% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 1.2% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 0.8% of the population. There were 771 households, of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.1% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 53.3% were non-families. 47.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.89 and the average family size was 2.66. The median age in the city was 49 years. 16.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.5% were from 25 to 44; 30.3% were from 45 to 64; and 26.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.3% male and 52.7% female.


2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,818 people, 830 households, and 458 families residing in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was 577.3 people per square mile (222.8/km2). There were 1,025 housing units at an average density of 325.5 per square mile (125.6/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 97.36%
Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...
, 0.06%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1.38% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.17%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, and 0.94% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population. 30.3% were of
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, 20.4% Finnish, 9.7%
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
and 9.3%
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
ancestry. There were 830 households, out of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.8% were non-families. 39.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.72. In the city, the population was spread out, with 18.2% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 26.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $24,821, and the median income for a family was $33,000. Males had a median income of $27,717 versus $17,750 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $14,554. About 11.0% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 18.6% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.


Recreation and tourism

The western terminus of the Iron Belle Trail, a non motorized path, begins in Hurley. The trail runs along the former Soo Line Railroad tracks from Hurley to Ramsay, Michigan. Hurley is located near numerous waterfalls. The SISU Cross Country Ski Race is held each January in neighboring Ironwood, Michigan. The
Paavo Nurmi Marathon The Paavo Nurmi Marathon is an annual road running event held each August in Iron County, Wisconsin, Iron County, Wisconsin, in the United States. The course begins in the town of Upson, Wisconsin, Upson and continues along Highway 77 (Wisconsin) ...
, one of the first US marathons, is held in Hurley the second Saturday of every August. Hurley commemorates its Italian heritage at the annual Festivale de Italiano, held every Labor Day weekend. The National Finnish American Festival Cultural Center (NFAF) is located on US 2, near US 51 south. Viola Turpeninen Day, held annually in the summer, commemorates the legendary Finnish-American accordionist and singer. Other events take place on Mothers' day and
Juhannus Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer, taking place on or near the date of the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere; the longest day of the year. The name "midsummer" mainly refers to summer solstice festivals of European or ...
as well as throughout the year. The NFAF museum is open from April through December. Hurley is also known for its
ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourn ...
Hurley Rally held on Memorial Day weekend, a Pumpkin ATV rally held the second weekend of October, and the Red Light
Snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a snowmachine (chiefly Alaskan), motor sled (chiefly Canadian), motor sledge, skimobile, snow scooter, or simply a sled is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. Their engines normally ...
Rally. Both attract thousands of visitors to the area each year. Riccelli Park is located in Hurley. The park provides picnic and playground areas, as well as the Nestor Laspa pavilion for gatherings. The Felix Patritto baseball field is located adjacent to Riccelli Park.


Government

Hurley is the county seat of Iron County. The current mayor is Joanne Lundgren Bruneau.


Education

Gogebic Community College, a two-year public community college, is located in adjacent
Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County, Michigan, Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on U.S. Route 2 in Michigan, US Highway 2 across the Montreal River (Wisconsin-Michig ...
. It was founded in 1932 and has a student body of approximately 1,000. The Hurley K-12 School is located just outside of Hurley in the Town of Kimball. It was built in 1991 and serves students from northern Iron County in grades kindergarten through 12. Approximately 550 students are enrolled as of the 2021–2022 school year.


Media

WHRY WHRY (1450 AM) is a radio station broadcasting an oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980 ...
-AM and
WUPM WUPM (106.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to Ironwood, Michigan, United States, broadcasting a hot adult contemporary music format. The station began broadcasting in 1978 as a Top 40 (CHR) format, and has featured a contemporary music format ...
-FM are the two local radio stations, along with stations from
Ironwood, Michigan Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County, Michigan, Gogebic County in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The city is on U.S. Route 2 in Michigan, US Highway 2 across the Montreal River (Wisconsin-Michig ...
.


Transportation

* runs west to
Ashland, Wisconsin Ashland is a city in Ashland County, Wisconsin, Ashland and Bayfield County, Wisconsin, Bayfield counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat of Ashland County. The city is a port on Lake Superior, near the head of Chequamegon ...
and
Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...
, intersecting US 51 at the Michigan–Wisconsin border at
Ironwood Ironwood is a common name for many woods that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is denser than water (approximately 1000 kg/m3, or 62 pounds per cubic foot), although usage of the name ironwood in English ma ...
and then goes east to Iron Mountain. * terminates at Hurley. Southbound, US 51 routes to
Wausau, Wisconsin Wausau ( ) is a city in Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Wisconsin River and had a population of 39,994 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the core city of the Wausau ...
; where it intersects with
Interstate 39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a north–south Interstate Highway in Illinois and Wisconsin that runs from an interchange at I-55 in Normal, Illinois, to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) approximately south of Wausau, Wisconsin. In to ...
. * starts just at the state line in Hurley and travels southwest. Intercity bus service to the city is provided by
Indian Trails Indian Trails is an intercity bus operator primarily serving the U.S. state of Michigan, with routes also serving Wisconsin and Minnesota. Indian Trails is based in Owosso, Michigan, with offices in Romulus, East Lansing, and Kalamazoo. His ...
. Gogebic-Iron County Airport offers commercial air service. Hurley was served by the
Chicago & North Western The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
Flambeau Line with the Flambeau 400 train between Chicago and Ashland, and the Soo Line Railroad Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad">Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad">Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railroadbetween Minneapolis and Bessemer. The
Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (DSS&A; ) was an American railroad serving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Lake Superior shoreline of Wisconsin. It provided service from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and St. Ignace, Michigan, w ...
Line (now
Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
) skirted Hurley a few miles to the north. This line originally ran from Superior to Sault Ste Marie.


Notable people

*
Paul Alfonsi Paul R. Alfonsi (February 13, 1908November 22, 1989) was an American educator, businessman, and Wisconsin Progressive Party, Progressive Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from northern Wisconsin. He was the 55th speaker of ...
, Wisconsin State Representative and Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly *
Karen Borca Karen Borca (born September 5, 1948, in Green Bay, Wisconsin) is an American avant-garde jazz and free jazz bassoonist. Early life and education Borca studied music at the University of Wisconsin with John Barrows and Arthur Weisberg, graduat ...
, American avant-garde jazz and free jazz bassoonist * Len Calligaro, football player *
Ralph Capone Ralph James Capone ( ; born Raffaele James Capone, ; January 12, 1894 – November 22, 1974) was an Italian-American mobster and an older brother of Al Capone and Frank Capone. He got the nickname "Bottles" not from involvement in the Capone ...
, former Public Enemy No. 3 and older brother to gangster
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...
* Arthur A. Cirilli, Wisconsin State Senator and Douglas County Circuit Court Judge * Chester P. Emunson,
Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
State Representative * C.L. Harrington, Superintendent of Wisconsin State Forests and Parks, nature photographer * Everis A. Hayes, U.S. Representative from
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
* Leon L. Lewis, attorney and co-founder of the Anti-Defamation League * Sarah McNeel Lockwood, novelist, notable work ''Fistful of Stars'' * Hyman M. Mark, Wisconsin State Representative * Linton McNeel, pioneer attorney; practiced law in Hurley from 1886 until 1892–1893, * Lotta Morgan, born Laura Whitley (some variations include Whiting or Whittlesay) Famed Hurley character, mistress, purported escort and unsolved murder victim. *
Alvin O'Konski Alvin Edward O'Konski (May 26, 1904July 8, 1987) was an American politician and educator who served 30 years in the United States House of Representatives. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he represented northwestern Wisconsin from ...
, U.S. Representative *
Frank Olson Frank Rudolph Emmanuel Olson (July 17, 1910 – November 28, 1953) was an American bacteriologist, biological warfare scientist, and an employee of the United States Army Biological Warfare Laboratories (USBWL) who worked at Camp Detrick (no ...
, bio-weaponeer who died under suspicious circumstances * Albert L. Osborn, Wisconsin State Representative * Nell Ziff Pekarsky, President of Junior Hadassah, 1938–1941; assistant to Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, founder of the Reconstructionist Movement * Alex J. Raineri, Wisconsin State Representative and Iron County Circuit Court Judge, 1978–1980 *
Hugh Fay Hugh Fay (June 9, 1882 – December 4, 1925) was an American comedic actor and director. He appeared in vaudeville and silent films. He was the son of Irish vaudevillian Henry "Hugh" Fay and comedic actress Elfie Fay was his sister. Filmograph ...
.F.Ringo, Montreal Mining Company physician; member, Committee for the Prevention of Silicosis through Medical Control * Philip Romiti, Dean, DePaul University Law School; Presiding Judge in Black Panther and Lindquist cases, Cook County, Illinois * Frank Rooney, baseball player * Robert (Bob) Sohl, Olympic bronze medal-winning swimmer in 1948 * Joseph Sullivan, an FBI major case inspector who led the investigation into the
murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner On June 21, 1964, three Civil Rights Movement activists, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, were murdered by local members of the Ku Klux Klan. They had been arrested earlier in the day for speeding, and after being releas ...
in 1964, depicted in the movie ''
Mississippi Burning ''Mississippi Burning'' is a 1988 American crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker and written by Chris Gerolmo that is loosely based on the 1964 investigation into the deaths of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi. It stars ...
'' * Richard C. Trembath, Wisconsin State Representative and Iron County Judge * John P. Varda, Wisconsin State Representative and Iron County Judge. * Sherman W. Wade, Wisconsin State Senator * Earl W. Warren, Wisconsin State Representative * Arne Wicklund, Wisconsin State Representative and Iron County Judge * Paul Zarzyski, Cowboy poet and educator


In popular culture

A fictionalized version of Hurley as well as the famed character and murder victim Lotta (Lottie) Morgan was the subject of
Edna Ferber Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), '' Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' Cima ...
's 1934 novel '' Come and Get It''. Ferber did most of her research for the novel while staying at Hurley's Burton House hotel. In 1954, Lewis C. Reimann published the book ''Hurley - Still No Angel'', in which he claimed that crime and corruption were still prevalent in the town.
Ralph Capone Ralph James Capone ( ; born Raffaele James Capone, ; January 12, 1894 – November 22, 1974) was an Italian-American mobster and an older brother of Al Capone and Frank Capone. He got the nickname "Bottles" not from involvement in the Capone ...
, the older brother of
Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone ( ; ; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American organized crime, gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-foun ...
, died in Hurley in 1974.


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * *


External links


Hurley Chamber of Commerce
* Sanborn fire insurance maps
188818911898190519131922
* Wisconsin Historical Societ

{{Authority control Cities in Wisconsin Cities in Iron County, Wisconsin County seats in Wisconsin