EXAMINING PATTERNS OF ITALIAN IMMIGRATION TO ...

Figure IV. Map of the Province of Lucca showing borders of the city
(clearer) and borders of the other municipalities.
The data about the provenience of Italian immigrants to Houghton County show that
those who came from the province of Lucca were actually leaving from many villages
scattered all over the province.
In 1900 Lucchesi mainly came from the municipalities of Collodi, Matraia, Pariana,
and Villa Basilica. In 1910 they came from Collodi, Pescaglia, Matraia, Segromigno, and
Santa Maria del Giudice. In 1920 the sources were Capannori, Colle di Compito, Collodi,
Matraia, Pescaglia, Santa Maria del Giudice, and Segromigno. In 1930 people came from
Collodi, Castelvecchio, Matraia, Pariana, Segromigno, Santa Maria del Giudice,and Ruota.
The reasons that pushed Lucchesi out of Lucca are probably the same reasons -
discussed in Chapter I - that forced millions of Italians to leave their villages and cities in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth century. What remains unclear is what particular factors
attracted them to Houghton County. Chain migration accounts for the largest number of them
but does not explain why the very first Lucchesi settled here.
2.8.2 Area of Canavese in the province of Torino
Torino is the main city of the region of Piemonte, and with its 6,830 square km of
surface is also its biggest province. Nowadays the province itself including the city of Torino
counts more than 2,200,000 inhabitants. The Canavese is a northwest area of the province of
Torino. It is delimited towards the northwest by the region of Valle d’Aosta, and towards east
by the province of Vercelli. It is about 2,000 square kilometers in size, and includes around
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