The last of Michigan's eighty-three counties to be organized, Dickinson County was created May 21, 1891 from parts of Iron, Marquette and Menominee Counties. It  was named for Donald M. Dickinson, who served as U.S. Postmaster General under President Grover Cleveland. Dickinson County's roots lie in the mining and lumbering industries of the mid-to-late 19th century. Iron ore was first found in the region in the late 1840's. Today Dickinson still has some iron ore mining and lumbering, but tourism is the primary source of revenue for the region. The Chapin Mine, which at one point produced 27 million tons of ore, has since been restored as a tourist attraction while the county boasts of early ties to Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company. In the early 1900s, Henry Ford had been eyeing the reserves of iron and timber in the Upper Peninsula. He contacted Edward G. Kingsford and expressed interest in acquiring raw materials for his factories, and by 1925, Ford production was in full swing here, with the county peaking at 7,500 workers.