Iron Range

The Iron Range refers to several areas where iron ore is mined around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. These mining districts are mostly found in Minnesota, with additional ranges in Wisconsin and Michigan. The iron ore in these regions comes from ancient rock formations, some of which are over a billion years old.

Mining in the Iron Range began in 1848 and continued until the mid-1950s. During that time, natural ores were used, but later, miners began processing rocks called taconites and jaspers to make iron pellets, which became the main way to get iron from the ground.

These mining areas are located in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region. While most of the Arrowhead does not contain iron ore, parts near the Canada–U.S. border have other valuable metals like copper, nickel, and cobalt that people are looking at for future mining.

The Iron Range and its economy

The Iron Range is a group of places where iron ore is mined, mainly around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Minnesota's Iron Range has four big iron deposits: the Mesabi Range, the largest one; the Vermilion Range; the Gunflint Range, which reaches into Canada; and the Cuyuna Range.

Minnesota has a special department called the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation, created in 1941. It helps develop the area's natural and human resources. The Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board works on creating jobs, partly funded by taxes from companies that make taconite. There have been efforts to mine other metals near the Iron Range, like the Twin Metals mine, but these face challenges due to environmental worries close to protected lands.

History

Long ago, before the 1800s, Native American groups mined copper on the Keweenaw Peninsula. In 1844, a man named William Austin Burt found iron ore near Negaunee, Michigan. More iron was found later on different ranges.

Most of these mines were dug underground, but on the Mesabi and Cuyuna Ranges, big open pits were made instead. Machines could take out lots of ore this way. In 1956, a big mine started near Babbitt, Minnesota to make magnetite taconite ore.

Cities and towns

Some important places in the Iron Range area include:

• Aitkin is located near the eastern edge of the Cuyuna Range.
• Aurora is on the Eastern Mesabi Range, where several old mines used to operate.
• Babbitt, Biwabik, and Bovey are smaller communities along roads and near mining areas.
• Buhl and Chisholm are towns along a major highway.
• Coleraine is known as the starting point of the Iron Range.
• Crosby was once a busy town where miners lived.
• Deerwood is where a big iron ore discovery was made in 1895.
• Ely is a popular place to start trips into a wild area for canoeing.
• Eveleth is home to a famous museum about hockey.
• Grand Rapids is named after rapids on the Mississippi River.
• Gilbert has a lake that was made by flooding old mines.
• Hibbing is a large town with one of the biggest open iron mines in the world.
• Hoyt Lakes is where old mining work took place and new projects are being tested.
• Keewatin has a big mining factory.
• Kinney was once a busy mining town.
• Mountain Iron has the world's largest factory for processing a special kind of iron rock.
• Nashwauk is a small town near other mining communities.
• Soudan is a small area near Tower that has an old mine turned into a science park deep underground.
• Taconite was a town where many miners lived.
• Virginia is next to a very large and deep mine pit, with the state's tallest bridge over it.
• Winton used to be much bigger and had a large lumber mill.

Other nearby places that are important to the Iron Range include:

• Duluth is a big city where a lot of the iron ore is shipped by train and loaded onto ships.
• Grand Marais has a long history as a trading place and is along a scenic road.
• Silver Bay has a factory that works with mining materials from Babbitt.
• Two Harbors is a town on the shore of Lake Superior and was an important port for shipping iron ore.

Culture

People from more than 23 countries moved to the Iron Range to work in the mining industry. By 1910, the largest group was from Finland, followed by people from Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, and Sweden. Over time, the area developed its own special culture and way of speaking, which older people still use today. This is why the area is often called "da Range."

The culture of the Iron Range is tied to the times when mining jobs were steady and well-paid. Recently, the area's outdoor activities and quiet nature have attracted new people who are not connected to mining. Some people support using old iron mines for other ores, while others do not agree.

Bob Dylan, who grew up in Hibbing, wrote a song called "North Country Blues" in 1963 about the tough times in the region. The Iron Range has its own special foods, like Cornish pasties filled with beef, rutabaga, onion, carrots, and potatoes, which miners used to eat. Slovenian and Croatian families brought a sweet bread called potica, which is still eaten at Easter and Christmas.

Ice hockey is very popular in the Iron Range. The area has produced several players in the NHL, including three members of the 1980 United States men's national ice hockey team that won the "Miracle on Ice" game against the Soviet Union. In 2022, a documentary called Hockeyland was released, showing high school hockey in the Iron Range and Duluth area.

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Politics

The Iron Range has often voted for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, even though most people there are white and live in rural areas. This is because many people there used to work in mines and were part of unions, which helped shape the local economy.

In 2016, some people in the area started supporting Donald Trump because of his economic plans. This changed the voting patterns a bit, but the Iron Range still tends to support Democratic candidates for president, especially in Duluth, the largest city in the area.

Climate

The Iron Range has cold, harsh winters and warm, pleasant summers. The average temperature throughout the year is in the 30s °F, which is between about 2 °C and 4 °C. During most winters, temperatures can drop below −40 °F or −40 °C. In Virginia, the average yearly temperature is 38 °F. January usually has very cold nights around −6.2 °F (−21 °C), while July can get up to about 77.4 °F (25 °C). The area receives about 27 inches (690 mm) of rain each year and around 53.2 inches (135 cm) of snow.