Eagle River, Michigan

The Keweenaw County courthouse in Eagle River

The Houghton Township Community Center in Eagle River

Eagle River is an unincorporated community in the U.S. state of Michigan and is the county seat of Keweenaw County.

The community is on M-26 on the north side of the Keweenaw Peninsula, which projects northwards into Lake Superior. It is about 27 miles northeast of Houghton and is situated in the northwest corner of Houghton Township on the mouth of the Eagle River at 47°24′50″N 88°17′45″W. The ZIP code is 49950.

Eagle River was a boom town of the copper mining era in the Keweenaw. Copper was discovered in 1845 at the Cliff Range nearby, the so-called "Cliff Lode". The land of the Eagle River community had been leased by the Keweenaw Copper Company in 1843. It was later platted by the Phoenix Company and sold as individual lots. The first postmaster was named on October 24, 1845. It was part of Houghton County until Keweenaw County was organized in 1861. The profitability of the area's copper mines had begun to decline sharply by around 1870.

The decommissioned Eagle River Lighthouse is on the west bank of the river on a sand bluff overlooking Lake Superior, although the view is partially obscured by condominiums.

The Eagle River Timber Bridge is a wooden arch bridge that carries highway M-26 over the Eagle River. It opened in 1990 as a replacement for the historic Lake Shore Drive Bridge that runs parallel to it.

Transportation

• US 41
• M-26