White Pine, Michigan
White Pine, Michigan | |
|---|---|
Entry sign to White Pine, Michigan. | |
Location within Ontonagon County | |
| Coordinates: 46°45′14″N 89°35′03″W / 46.75389°N 89.58417°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Michigan |
| County | Ontonagon |
| Township | Carp Lake |
| Area | |
• Total | 5.00 sq mi (12.96 km2) |
| • Land | 5.00 sq mi (12.96 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 899 ft (274 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 339 |
| • Density | 67.77/sq mi (26.17/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| ZIP code(s) | 49971 |
| Area code | 906 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1622143 |
White Pine is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Ontonagon County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The CDP had a population of 474 at the 2010 census. White Pine is located within Carp Lake Township.
Much of White Pine was developed in the 1950s as a company town for miners at the White Pine mine. Mining companies in Michigan often built and leased housing to workers so that miners could live adjacent to mine operations. This allowed mining companies to attract workers with families, which were believed to improve retention rates by ensuring miners were socially and financially invested in the town created by the mining company.
White Pine was developed as a typical post war suburb. Many dwellings were single-story ranch homes, although a trailer park and apartment complex were also built. The community never developed fully as the Copper Range Company envisioned. The automobile transformed how workers commuted where previous mine sites had workers walking from nearby housing to the mine, many workers by the 1950s preferred driving up to 90 miles a day to remain in their current homes rather than move to the company town.