The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center will host a round-table discussion on boom and ghost towns in the Upper Peninsula and beyond on Thursday, Nov. 10. The event begins at 6 p.m. at the center, located at the corner of Seventh Street and Lee Drive on the Northern Michigan University campus. It is free and open to the public.

Panelists include historians Larry Lankton and Robert Archibald and city planner Dave Stensaas. Daniel Truckey, director of the Beaumier Center, will be the moderator. 

Lankton is a professor at Michigan Tech. His primary interest is 19th century American industrialization and the social history of industrial communities. He particularly focuses on the history of the copper mining industry that once thrived on the Keweenaw Peninsula. Lankton has authored three books and several journal articles on the history of the Lake Superior copper district.

Archibald is a 1972 NMU graduate and the former President of the Missouri Historical Museum. He currently is teaching as an adjunct professor in NMU’s public history program. Archibald published three books and numerous articles, including “A Sense of Place.”  

Stensaas is a city planner for the City of Marquette and a 1998 NMU graduate. He specializes in urban planning in a small town environment and project coordination for non-motorized, transit, and motorized modes of transportation. He uses planning techniques to define choices and consequences, to help develop publicly beneficial projects and programs, and to promote and support sustainable alternatives to "business as usual."

This event is being held in conjunction with the Beaumier Center's current exhibition, "Remnants: Ghost Towns of the Upper Peninsula."