Calcite Employee Housing

Calcite Employee Housing. Historic Marker No. 22. , On the left is a portion of the first housing development constructed by Michigan Limestone. Along Lake Street, the homes were largely for management and technical personnel. The home on the left, the largest in the development, was for the company's vice-president and his family. On the right is the Tank Addition development, the last to be built., When Michigan Limestone and Chemical Company's Calcite Plant went into operation in 1912, there was a severe shortage of housing available in Rogers City. Some employees of the plant were living in tents, while in other cases two or three families were sharing a home. The work force at the plant increased rapidly from just over 700 to almost 1,900 in just five years and the critical shortage of suitable housing became a major impediment when trying to attract needed workers to come to Rogers., In 1916, the plant's progressive general manager, Carl D. Bradley, talked the company's board of directors into purchasing the site of a former sawmill along the Lake Huron shore and constructing housing that could be rented to company employees at attractive rates. Richardson Lumber Company of Alpena was contracted to build twenty-eight homes in the development that included one block of Lake Street (The street that is straight in front of this marker) and one block of the adjacent First Street area. Twenty-six of the homes were attractive one-story, arts and crafts bungalows that were rented to management and technical personnel. Two other homes at the south end of the development were earmarked for the company's assistant general manager and the head of finance and they were considerably larger two-story structures. General manager Carl D. Bradley had already purchased an impressive new home in downtown Rogers. When he died in 1928, Michigan Limestone purchased the home and it was home to the next three heads of the plant and their families., In 1917, construction began on a second housing complex located along a two-block stretch of Second Street. The craftsman-style homes were slightly smaller, located on slightly smaller lots, and intended to be rented to employees not quite as far up in the Calcite "pecking order." A number of larger two-story homes were built along the east side of Second Street for employees with larger families., With Calcite employing about 600 workers in the plant and another 300, or more, on their fleet of freighters, the housing situation was still crucial in 1918. To address the ongoing problem, the company purchased a 25-acre parcel of land at the south end of First and Second Streets that adjoined the quarry property. There, they built small, cottage-style homes that initially didn't have basements or indoor plumbing. They could be rented by any Calcite employee, regardless of the position they held. A few were even rented to individuals who didn't work at the plant., The smallest and definitely the most interesting housing development was "Little Italy" that sprang up outside the main gate of the plant sometime between 1910 and 1920. It was home to seven Italian workers and their families., Partial funding for this project was provided by the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan. The text and photos for this marker were supplied by the Presque Isle County Historical Museum. The marker was installed by employees of the Department of Public Works