Amos Harlow, The Man who made Marquette, MI
Amos Rogers Harlow helped build Marquette, Michigan. Many consider him the city’s founding father. Born in 1815 in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, he later moved to Worcester, where he became skilled in manufacturing woolen mill machinery.
News of iron ore in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula spread fast. Harlow read reports and saw iron ore samples from Robert Graveraet. He saw opportunity. In 1849, he organized the Marquette Iron Company with Waterman Fisher, Edward Clark, and Graveraet. They set out to establish a forge near the Carp River.
Harlow and his family left Massachusetts in June 1849. The journey was long. They traveled by train, steamboat, and schooner. Harlow and Clark endured rough conditions, sleeping on deck and eating only salt pork. When they arrived, they began clearing land for a new settlement. Harlow named it Worcester after his hometown.
Olive Bacon
His wife, Olive (Bacon) Harlow, was just as tough. She set up a home in a simple log hut with a dirt floor, built furniture from logs and barrels, and took in boarders, nursed the sick, and hosted the first church service. On July 15, 1850, she wrote in her diary:
“Had a town meeting in my sitting room for organizing. Our settlement is now to be called Marquette.”
Harlow played a major role in shaping Marquette. He became the first postmaster, served as Justice of the Peace, County Clerk, and alderman, helped lay out the town’s early plats, and, with Olive, helped found the first Presbyterian Church.
After selling the forge, Harlow focused on sawmills, timber lands, and city real estate. He also developed the Eureka Mine west of Marquette. He farmed, invested, and watched the city grow.
In 1872, he built a grand Italianate brick home on Fourth Street. It featured a widow’s walk—a rooftop platform where he could watch ships in the harbor.
Harlow’s Wooden Man
Harlow’s Wooden Man has stood tall in Marquette since 1875. At 15 feet high, this unique wooden figure remains a lasting tribute to the pioneers who built the city.
While walking behind his home, he spotted a large cedar tree. Its shape reminded him of a man. Inspired, he cut it down, moved it to his backyard, and flipped it upside down.
He then got creative. He attached branches as shoulders and used fungi for ears. Cedar bark became a coat, while birch bark formed a collar and cuffs. For hair, Harlow unraveled hemp rope and placed a straw-style hat on its head. No gentleman of the time would go walking without a cane, so Harlow added one to its right hand.
Over the years, the Wooden Man lost his cane and original hat, but he still stands proudly. Now 150 years old, he has become a symbol of Marquette’s history.
In 1965, the Marquette County History Museum honored the statue by naming its quarterly publication Harlow’s Wooden Man. The journal shares museum news, historical articles, and event updates.
You can still visit Harlow’s Wooden Man today. The property is fenced, but you can view him from behind a nearby store.
Death of a Pioneer
Harlow died in 1890. Olive passed away in 1905. Both rest in Park Cemetery, along with their descendants. Their vision and hard work helped transform Marquette from a rugged outpost into the “Queen City” of the North.
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