Vertin Brother's Department Store, Keweenaw National Historical Park, 1895.

The village of Red Jacket was home to immigrants from many countries around the world. In 1891, Slovenian immigrants, John and Joseph Vertin, built and established the Vertin Brother’s Department Store. Known as ‘The Big Store’, Vertin’s sold many necessities and novelties, enough to satisfy a variety of customers. As business boomed, two more floors were added in 1899. The store eventually expanded across the alley into the Cesar Block, which housed the menswear department. Local women's clothing kept pace with the current fads as buyers who traveled to Chicago and New York to buy the latest fashions as Vertin's made them available here in Calumet just days later.