The history of Keweenaw County and its seat, Eagle River, began with the copper rush of the 1840s. Following the 1843 purchase of land leases, the region’s economy took off with the 1845 establishment of the Cliff Mine, famously known as “the first great copper mine in the Western Hemisphere.” The promise of wealth attracted numerous German, Cornish, and Irish immigrants, sparking growth that saw Eagle River praised as a “thriving village” by 1846, and later supported industries like the Knivel Brewery (1850) and the Eagle River Fuse Company (1862), which produced twenty-five thousand feet of fuse daily.
In 1861, Keweenaw County was officially separated from Houghton County, making Eagle River the county seat. Just five years later, in 1866, the Keweenaw County Courthouse was designed and constructed by John Sweatt. This simple, rectilinear, clapboard meetinghouse was built for $\$6,578$. In 1925, renovations added a pedimented front porch and Doric columns, transforming the structure into its current Neo-Classical style. The Sheriff’s Residence and jail, also designed by Sweatt, stands on the same site.
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