The Greater Northwoods

City in Gogebic County

Wakefield

Population
1,704
County
Gogebic County
Location
46.477, -89.933

Wakefield is an incorporated city in Gogebic County in Michigan's western Upper Peninsula, about 10 miles east of the Wisconsin border and roughly 10 miles east of Ironwood. It covers about 7.9 square miles of land wrapped around Sunday Lake; the 2020 Census counted 1,702 residents (down from a 1920 mining-boom peak of 4,151), with an ACS median household income near $55,759 and a median age near 52.8. Governed by a Mayor (Dale White) and City Council under a city-manager structure and served by the Wakefield-Marenisco School District (236 students, 2024-2025), Wakefield trades on an iron-mining and forestry heritage now reoriented to four-season tourism in 'Big Snow Country', anchored by Sunday Lake, Eddy Park, and the Snowriver (former Indianhead Mountain) ski resort. Population and income figures here are census-derived via secondary repackagers and flagged, because the census.gov API required a key and data.census.gov was JavaScript-rendered during research.

The record

531 records name Wakefield

  • 446 news
  • 68 events
  • 14 obituaries
  • 2 opinion
  • 1 notices

Showing the 40 most recent of 531. Every one is held, cited, and searchable in the archive.

What the records show

34 of 52 independently verified

Authoritative data

Overview

Population and demographics

  • 2020: 1702 unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • 2010: 1851 unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Peak: 4151 unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Acs: 1683 unverified via censusreporter.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Seasonal: not quantified unverified via cityofwakefieldmi.gov We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.

Government and civic

Schools

Economy and employers

  • Shift: tourism, forestry, services secondary source via en.wikipedia.org Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.
  • Tourism: outdoor tourism inferred via cityofwakefieldmi.gov Reasoned from other facts on this page, not reported directly.
  • History: iron mining unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Snowriver: Snowriver Mountain Resort unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.

Institutions and anchors

Business and commerce

  • Downtown: Sunday Lake Street / US-2 corridor inferred via michigan.org Reasoned from other facts on this page, not reported directly.
  • Chamber: no standalone chamber unverified via cityofwakefieldmi.gov We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.

Media

  • Globe: Ironwood Daily Globe unverified via yourdailyglobe.com We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.

Recreation and natural assets

Infrastructure and access

  • Us2: US-2 secondary source via en.wikipedia.org Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.
  • M28: M-28 western terminus secondary source via en.wikipedia.org Relayed by a secondary source. The primary record is cited but was not independently re-read.
  • Airport: Gogebic-Iron County Airport (KIWD) unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Hub: Ashland, WI ~55-60 mi unverified via en.wikipedia.org We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.
  • Broadband: not confirmed unverified via cityofwakefieldmi.gov We could not confirm this against a primary public record, so we are telling you rather than hiding it.

In memory, from Wakefield

All obituaries

Every figure here traces to a primary public record, linked at the fact. We gather and cite; we do not author. See something off? Tell us.

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