Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Ironwood — Old file cabinets might seem trivial but the appropriate storage for aging documents will help ensure that Ironwood’s map and plat archives will be in good condition for generations to come, according to members of the Ironwood Area Historical Society.
The city of Ironwood recently approved the $1 sale of two metal map drawers to the historical society. The map drawers were in the Memorial Building for decades and were recently placed on the surplus property list to put up for auction.
In her letter to the city commission requesting the map drawers, historical society president Sandy Sharp said the drawers were designed to store maps, plat sheets and oversized photos. The Depot Museum archive room would benefit by better protecting these types of artifacts.
“We have a lot of maps and plats and our architectural drawings of the depot and everything is original,” Sharp said. “They are rolled up and we need proper storage for these documents.”
Sharp said when she read the item description she went to the former city engineering office and saw that the two cabinets have big flat drawers and requested them.
“I think there are probably about 10 drawers per cabinet and this will greatly benefit our archive room and research center,” Sharp said. “It will help with the preservation of historical Ironwood documents.”
Scott Erickson, city manager, said the map drawers are not considered high value property. When the historical society expressed interest he recommended the sale to the city commission.
“The organization does archive a lot of maps and information on behalf of the city,” Erickson said. “Procedurally, the city has to sell them and I recommend $1.”
Mayor Annette Burchell supported the sale, saying the historical society is a wonderful steward of the city’s documented heritage and also for its work in maintaining the historic Ironwood Depot.
Commissioner Jim Mildren agreed.
“The people down there have been so committed to preserving our history for so long and we just owe them a big thank you for all the work they do,” Mildren said.
