Misplaced Pages

Elcor
Ghost town
Maritana Avenue, one of only two paved roads in Elcor, looking south toward Manilla Street, 1980
ElcorShow map of MinnesotaElcorShow map of the United States
Coordinates: 47°30′19″N 92°26′28″W / 47.50528°N 92.44111°W / 47.50528; -92.44111
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
County	St. Louis
Elevation	1,542 ft (470 m)
Population
• Total	0
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code	218
GNIS feature ID	661197

Elcor is a ghost town, or more properly, an extinct town, in the U.S. state of Minnesota that was inhabited between 1897 and 1956. It was built on the Mesabi Iron Range near the city of Gilbert in St. Louis County. Elcor was its own unincorporated community before it was abandoned and was never a neighborhood proper of the city of Gilbert. Not rating a figure in the national census, the people of Elcor were only generally considered to be citizens of Gilbert. The area where Elcor was located was annexed by Gilbert when its existing city boundaries were expanded after 1969.

In November 1890, the seven Merritt brothers discovered ore near Mountain Iron, triggering an unparalleled iron rush to the Mesabi Range. The Elba mine was opened in 1897, and the town was platted under the direction of Don H. Bacon, president of the Minnesota Iron Company. A second nearby mine, the Corsica, was opened in 1901. The community was first called "Elba" after the name of the first underground mine (the name "Elcor" was formed later by combining the first syllables of each mine's name). The Elba and Corsica mines were both leased by Pickands Mather and Company after the formation of the United States Steel Corporation. An influx of people of many ethnicities and many nations followed, and Elcor became a microcosm of U.S. immigration, mirroring the cultural assimilation of the time. At its peak around 1920, Elcor had two churches, a post office, a general store, a primary school, a railroad station, and its own law enforcement, and housed a population of nearly 1,000.

Elcor was a mining location, built by the mining company to house the workers for its mines. People were allowed to own their homes, but the land on which the houses stood belonged to the mining company. After the Corsica mine closed in 1954, Pickands Mather and Company ordered the residents to vacate the property so that it could reclaim the land; by 1956, Elcor was completely abandoned. The desolate property changed hands often through acquisitions, mergers, and bankruptcies. In 1993, the Inland Steel Company began stockpiling the overburden from what is now the Minorca Mine over Elcor's former location.

History

Establishment

Elcor came into existence with the opening of the Elba mine in 1897 and ended with the closing of the Corsica mine in 1954. The town was originally known as Elba, between the present-day cities of McKinley and Gilbert; the name "Elcor" was chosen later, by combining the first syllable of the name of each mine. As an Iron Range mining location, Elcor originally consisted of a grid of houses the mining company rented to its employees. It was one of over 125 mining locations, nearly 50 of which existed between the present-day cities of Eveleth and Aurora. Some of these, like Sparta and Pineville, exist today; others, such as Franklin and Genoa, have been annexed by adjacent communities; most have disappeared entirely.

Development of the Elba mine was carried out by the Minnesota Iron Company, and the first shipment of ore was made in 1898. The Minnesota Iron Company also had a controlling interest in Petit and Robinson, which owned the Corsica mine, where the first ore was shipped in 1901. Don H. Bacon, who joined the Minnesota Iron Company as general manager in 1887 and eventually became its president, was an ardent traveler who named many mines after Mediterranean islands, including Malta, Maiorica, Corsica, and Elba. He had a penchant for names beginning with the letter M. The Minnesota Steamship Company was organized by, and vertically integrated with, the Minnesota Iron Company to carry ore in 1889; its steamers and barges all had names that began with M, and the ships were referred to as the M fleet. Elba's street and avenue names also all began with M:

Mohawk Street
Malta Street
Manilla Street (this was also the main street)
Manola Street
Mariposa Avenue
Mauna Loa Avenue
Maritana Avenue
Minorca Avenue

The first street in Elba was Manilla Street. Company houses were constructed on both sides of it.

The Elba group of mines was between 1 and 1.5 miles west of McKinley, and was usually classed with the McKinley district mines, which included the Elba and Corsica mines, the La Belle mine, operated by the Pitt Iron Mining Company, the McKinley mine, operated by the Oliver Iron Mining Company, and the Roberts mine, operated by the Bowe-Burke Mining Company. The Minnesota Iron Company operated the Elba mine from 1898 to 1900 under the direction of M. E. McCarthy. Immediately after the formation of the United States Steel Corporation in 1901, Pickands Mather and Company acquired the Elba and Corsica mines, assuming the mineral leases and operating both after that date. Owners James Pickands, Samuel Mather and Jay Morse had been interested in the Corsica iron-ore properties for some time, and the mines remained on the firm's shipping roll for many years. William Philip Chinn was appointed superintendent of the Elba and adjacent Corsica mine under the new management of Pickands Mather and Company, succeeding McCarthy. Chinn was then on his way up in mining circles, ultimately becoming general manager of all Pickands Mather mining properties in the Lake Superior region in 1918; he was succeeded as superintendent of the Elba and Corsica mines by L. C. David. The Oliver Iron Mining Company also owned what they designated the "Elba No. 1 and No. 2 Reserve" ore bodies, but these were entirely different from the Elba and Corsica mines and remained undeveloped.

Peak years

The community grew at the beginning of the century. In 1902, the Corsica mine began operating in earnest and houses were quickly built. Company houses were built among the tall timbers. The community thrived on iron mining, its population nearing 1,000 after World War I, resulting in a neat and comfortable location comprising more than 100 houses. The townspeople were pioneers and largely immigrants, including Croatians, Slovenians, Finns, Italians, Germans, Scandinavians, and English, particularly from Cornwall.

In the early days, houses were made of wooden boards and surrounded by a four-board-high fence which was fronted with a boardwalk. Most of the streets were dirt roads. Winters were bitterly cold, and teams of horses dragging V-shaped wooden plows cleared the streets. In the center of town was the community pump, from which the village would draw water at stipulated hours. Water was pumped from the mine twice a day through a big open pipe. Everyone had to carry water home during pumping time. There was no shutoff valve, so buckets, tubs, and barrels were used for water storage. Later, a water tower was built to hold water drawn from a deep well. St. Bernard dogs helped carry the water from the well to the homes. Running water and bathtubs came only after ditches were dug for pipes to provide water from Gilbert around 1916. Kerosene lamps provided the means of lighting until 1916, when power lines were installed. Initially, the only telephone was at the Elba mine office.

The community's Finns organized a temperance society and built the Finnish Temperance Hall. The community also included a band, a volunteer fire department, tennis courts, and a clubhouse for employees. A small Methodist church and Presbyterian church were built. The town also had a night watchman and later a full-time patrolman. Always noted as a quiet, orderly town, Elcor managed to avoid the social vagaries of adjacent communities, like Gilbert's red-light district.

One of the frame houses was used as the first school in Elcor. It was not long before a new school was constructed. Elcor was included in the middle part of the Gilbert School system, known then as Independent School District No. 18. There were five schoolhouses in the district. The McKinley-Elba school was built in 1900, halfway between McKinley and Elba, complete with its own well and windmill. It had four teachers and housed classes through the eighth grade, accommodating pupils of both communities. Students walked to school over boardwalks. There were also three primary schools in the district, one of them in Elba on Malta Street.

Elcor's renters were required to take in boarders. The company rented a "cottage" for $7.50 per month, which later included electricity. Homes were charged an additional dollar per month when water was piped in from Gilbert. Although people were later allowed to own their homes (even though the land on which the houses stood belonged to the mining company), rents were never increased.

All families had their own gardens in which they grew vegetables that lasted through the winter. Some raised cows, pigs, and chickens; others had horses for carrying firewood. There was little refrigeration, and perishables were difficult to keep. Before the Mercantile came to Elcor, residents went to the J. P. Ahlin store in McKinley, or to the Saari, Campbell and Kraker Mercantile in Gilbert. Deliveries were made daily, with orders taken for the following day. People bought on credit and paid monthly, on paydays.

In 1920, the Finnish Hall became a general store, the Elcor Mercantile, along with an official U.S. Post Office. When the post office began operation, much confusion resulted, because there was another town named Elba in southeastern Minnesota, just east of Rochester. The name "Corsica" was attempted with the same result. Finally, the community was named "Elcor", combining the first syllable of each of the two names. "Elcor" was emblazoned in large white letters on the water tower.

Mail was picked up twice daily at the railroad station, erroneously spelled "Elcore", for the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad (later the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railroad). Later, the Elcor Mercantile diversified into the up-and-coming petroleum business, selling Conoco gasoline, kerosene, fuel oils, motor oils, grease, and even outboard motors. Concrete sidewalks were built to line the shady streets, and bright red fire hydrants were installed. Homes were insulated, and people began to purchase refrigerators. Manilla Street and Maritana Avenue were paved. Greyhound Bus Lines established a stop at the Elcor Mercantile. A baseball team was entered in the old East Mesaba League, and the Elcor Mercantile sponsored the Elcor-Conocos, an ice hockey team that became one of the best on the Iron Range. Chicago Blackhawks ice hockey goaltender Sam LoPresti was born in Elcor.

The Corsica and Elba mines remained the chief source of employment until 1926, when the underground Elba mine closed. It had been mined out. A few years later, the Corsica mine was converted into an open pit, and the future of the town once again seemed secure. Then the Great Depression hit. In the fall of 1929, Corsica closed and stayed closed for many years, with only a few salaried people retained. The mine remained idle until 1940, ironically receiving an honorable mention in the National Safety Competition from the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1934. Once World War II began, the mining business boomed again.

Abandonment

In 1954, the Corsica pit was shut down. Workers were told that the shutdown was temporary because the demand for that particular type of ore had declined. The pit was allowed to flood, and Pickands Mather officially conceded that "temporary" might stretch into quite a long time, although the mine would perhaps "eventually" be reopened. A year later, Pickands Mather and Company, manager of the mines at Elcor and the land on which the houses rested, ordered residents to vacate the property. By edict of the mining company, the remaining families were forced out so that the company could reclaim the land.

Sources differ on why the order was issued, speculating that the company wanted the land for a dump site, no longer wanted to tend to the town's maintenance, or decided it was not economical to own houses anymore. No one in authority revealed what was to become of the land.

Residents of the company-owned houses were given the option to buy the structures at bargain prices, provided they moved them out of town. For many, it took much of their life savings to relocate elsewhere, taking their homes in caravans along the highways and leaving behind empty foundations. Most Elcor residents purchased lots in the surrounding communities, trying to beat land speculators. In the few months after Elcor's fate became official, land prices skyrocketed. Lots that had originally been priced at $75 were sold for as much as $500. Most of the remaining families moved about two miles west to Gilbert, although other homes were replanted in nearby McKinley. The last vestiges of the old mining community were gone by 1956. Every building was torn down or removed. All that remained for some years after were old foundations, sidewalks, rusting stoves, pipes, bottles, and yard shrubbery, formerly visible from the old section of Minnesota State Highway 135 between Gilbert and Biwabik. A rusted fire hydrant adorned what was once a street corner, and a porcelain toilet bowl remained bolted to a concrete floor. An abandoned rail line for the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway went through what was left of the town site. Mine shafts were boarded up with old timbers. After everyone had left, the company dumped heaps of iron ore on the roads leading into Elcor, and in the process a ghost town was made out of what was once a thriving community.

For a time, the only landmark that remained at the old mining location was a 200-foot (61 m) smokestack near the defunct Corsica mine. The stack, built by Cornish miners in 1901, had a unique design. The Iron Range Historical Society wanted the stack, the last of its kind on the Mesabi Iron Range, to be preserved as an off-premises attraction, since it was structurally sound and historically significant, but its demolition had already been contracted as a part of the Minnesota Mineland Reclamation Act Abandoned Minelands Cleanup Program. Many people feared it might fall and injure someone; others considered it an aerial obstruction. In 1976, the stack was destroyed; it took three blasting attempts and nearly 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite to bring the structure down. After the demolition, responsibility for the land on which Elcor stood changed hands on several different occasions. As early as 1978, the property and its management were acquired by the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. Property rights were then transferred to LTV Steel after the merger of Jones and Laughlin with Republic Steel in 1984. Property rights were later acquired by the Inland Steel Company in a transfer from LTV. In 1993, Inland Steel began stripping the overburden near the old town site, and the Laurentian mine was born. After the acquisition of Inland Steel by Mittal in 1998, the mine was acquired by ArcelorMittal in the 2006 merger of Arcelor with Mittal Steel, and redesignated the Laurentian pit of the Minorca mine. In 2020, Cleveland-Cliffs acquired the United States operations of ArcelorMittal, essentially bringing ownership of the property full-circle back to Pickands Mather and Company, the iron and coal mining businesses of which were purchased by Cleveland-Cliffs in 1986.

Geology

Elcor sat atop a bed of taconite consisting of a uniform mixture of about 30 percent iron, interspersed with pockets of high-grade ore containing 90 to 95 percent iron, a part of the Biwabik iron formation. The formation is a large sheet of iron-bearing sediment deposited during the Precambrian era on the bottom of the Animikie Sea. This sea occupied the western portion of the Great Lakes area, depositing iron-bearing sediments extending under Lake Superior from the Mesabi and Vermilion Iron Ranges in northern Minnesota, to the Gogebic Iron Range in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's upper peninsula, to the Marquette Range of the upper peninsula, and west to the manganese-rich ore of the Cuyuna Iron Range in central Minnesota. Michigan's silicious steel-blue high-grade ores were quite different from the Mesabi ore, which was hydrated soft brown hematite. Geologists disagree about the geologic time period of the region and the mechanism by which the iron-bearing sediment was laid down differently on opposite sides of the lake. There is iron ore in other areas of Minnesota, but no longer in quantities that are practical to mine.

Geologists divide the iron-bearing rocks of the eastern Mesabi Iron Range into several layers. In the stratigraphic column, Virginia Slate and Duluth gabbro lie above, followed by four main iron-bearing divisions named the Upper Slaty, Upper Cherty, Lower Slaty, and Lower Cherty. Below these are quartzite and granite. Beneath the shallow topsoil measuring less than 20 feet (6 m) deep, the slate is from 50 feet (15 m) to several hundred feet thick, and the four iron-bearing layers are from 400 to 600 feet (120 to 180 m) thick.

Geography and climate

Elcor lay at an elevation of 1,542 feet (470 m) in St. Louis County, Minnesota, 52 miles (84 km) north-northwest of Duluth. The nearest cities to Elcor were Gilbert, approximately 2 miles (3 km) to the southwest and McKinley, approximately 2 miles (3 km) to the east-northeast. Elcor was along the old section of Minnesota State Highway 135, almost 5 miles (8 km) east-southeast of U.S. Route 53 and about 2 miles (3 km) northeast of Minnesota State Highway 37.

Elcor was in the Laurentian Mixed Forest Province in the Arrowhead region of northern Minnesota. The polar air mass dominates this part of the state year-round. The Köppen climate classification is Dfb. Precipitation ranges from about 21 inches (53 cm) annually along the western border of the forest to about 32 inches (81 cm) at its eastern edge. Average annual temperatures are about 34 °F (1 °C) along the northern part of the forest, rising to 40 °F (4 °C) at its southern extreme. Normal annual snowfall totals about 60 inches (150 cm).

July is the warmest month, when the average high temperature is 78 °F (26 °C) and the average low is 51 °F (11 °C). January is the coldest, with an average high temperature of 18 °F (−8 °C) and average low of −5 °F (−21 °C). Elcor was approximately 22 miles (35 km) south-southwest of Tower, Minnesota, where the temperature reached a record low of −60 °F (−51 °C) on February 2, 1996.

See also

• Iron Range
• List of ghost towns in the United States

References

1. ^ "Elcor". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
2. ^ "Elcor: A gentle, good neighborhood now more than 50 years gone". Mesabi Daily News (MN). March 18, 2008. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
3. ^ "Elcor-People and the Place". Gilbert Herald (MN). April 14, 1982. p. 1.
4. "USGS Historical Topographic Map Explorer". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
5. Havinghurst 1958, pp. 75–76.
6. ^ "Iron Range History: Elcor (Elba-Corsica) Memories". Mesabi Daily News (MN). October 14, 1976. p. 13.
7. ^ Van Brunt 1921, p. 469.
8. "State Minerals Leases". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
9. Abramitzky, Ran (April 12, 2017). "What history tells us about assimilation of immigrants". Stanford University. Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
10. ^ Holten, Jon (July 5, 1982). "Elcor, City of Memories, Comes Alive Once Again". Minneapolis Star and Tribune (MN). pp. 3C, 7C.
11. ^ Lamppa 1962, p. 106.
12. ^ Phillipich et al. 1982, p. 4.
13. ^ Breining, Greg (July–August 1992). "Mesabi Ghosts". The Minnesota Volunteer. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: 44–53. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
14. ^ Lamppa 1962, p. 107.
15. ^ Glavan, Gregory (September 1999). "Elcor, An Iron Range Ghost Town: The Elcor Smokestack". Range Reminiscing. 24: 2.
16. ^ "Laurentian Taconite Mine Draft Environmental Impact Statement" (PDF). Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
17. ^ Breining, Greg (March 1982). "Ghost Towns on the Range". Minnesota Monthly: 17–19.
18. ^ Phillipich et al. 1982, p. 3.
19. ^ Phillipich et al. 1982, p. 5.
20. ^ Lamppa 1962, p. 100.
21. Alanen, Arnold (Fall 1982). "The 'Locations', Company Communities on Minnesota's Iron Ranges" (PDF). Minnesota History. Minnesota Historical Society: 94–107. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
22. ^ Palcich Keyes, Mary (September 5, 2020). "Elcor is Remembered". Mesabi Tribune (MN). Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
23. "Sparta, MN". Mesabi Trail. St. Louis & Lake Counties Regional Railroad Authority. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
24. Romsaas, Jim (March 18, 2008). "Village of Franklin: Alive in Iron Range Lore". Mesabi Daily News (MN). Archived from the original on September 24, 2018. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
25. Van Brunt 1921, pp. 455–456.
26. Bordeau, Sanford P.; Krause, James L.; Krause, Kathie I. (2002). "An Early History of Weimer, Sparta, Genoa and Gilbert, Minnesota". Gilbert Herald (MN). Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
27. ^ "Historic Scene at the Village of Elcor, Mesabi Iron Range". Skillings' Mining Review: 27. November 19, 1960.
28. Havinghurst 1958, pp. 44, 47.
29. Frank A. Wildes; Minnesota State Auditor, Land Department. Superintendent of Mines Subject Files, 1921–1932 (Map). . St. Paul, MN: State Archives, Minnesota Historical Society.
30. Lamppa 1962, p. 101.
31. ^ Woodbridge & Pardee 1910, p. 737.
32. Appleby 1920, p. 54.
33. Havinghurst 1958, pp. 70, 79.
34. ^ "William Philip Chinn, General Manager, Pickands Mather & Company: A Biography". The Explosives Engineer. January 1930.
35. Appleby 1920, pp. 56, 62, 151.
36. Appleby 1920, p. 62.
37. Lamppa 1962, p. 102.
38. Phillipich et al. 1982, pp. 4, 25.
39. ^ Eldot, Walter (July 17, 1955). "Death of a Mining Town". Duluth News Tribune (MN). pp. 4–5 (Cosmopolitan Section).
40. ^ "Before...and After". Gilbert Herald (MN). September 29, 1976. p. 6.
41. Phillipich et al. 1982, p. 20.
42. ^ Fleichtinger, Gail (July 6, 1982). "Vanished Town of Elcor Still Exists in Ex-Residents' Memories". Duluth News Tribune (MN). pp. 1A, 8A.
43. ^ Lamppa 1962, p. 104.
44. Phillipich et al. 1982, p. 15.
45. ^ Lamppa 1962, p. 105.
46. "Citizens group denounces town's 'Whorehouse Days'". USA Today. January 27, 2005. Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
47. ^ Lamppa 1962, p. 103.
48. ^ Van Brunt 1921, p. 462.
49. ^ Phillipich et al. 1982, p. 16.
50. Gilbert Centennial 2008, p. 15.
51. Upham 2001, p. 520.
52. Leighton 1998, p. 10.
53. "Elcore Station (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
54. "Sam L. LoPresti". U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
55. ^ "St. Louis County Aerial Photography". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
56. Adams, William W. (July 1935). "1934 National Safety Competition". The Explosives Engineer. 13–14: 219. Archived from the original on September 20, 2017. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
57. Phillipich et al. 1982, p. 24.
58. Phillipich et al. 1982, p. 8.
59. ^ Lamppa 1962, p. 108.
60. ^ Leschak, Pam (September 28, 1976). "There She Blows-Finally! Attempt to Save it Too Late: Old Stack Blasted Down". Hibbing Daily Tribune (MN). pp. 1, 12.
61. ^ Radomski, Robyn (September 28, 1976). "Last Stack Bombed: Old Stack Blown; Protests Overridden". Mesabi Daily News (MN). p. 1.
62. "Minnesota Mineland Reclamation Act" (PDF). Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
63. Leschak, Pam (September–October 1977). "Big Clean-Up on the Iron Range". The Minnesota Volunteer. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: 37–41. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
64. "Mineland Reclamation". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on March 11, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
65. "Mineland Reclamation". Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
66. "Laurentian Taconite Mine Final Environmental Impact Statement" (PDF). Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
67. "USA Operations". ArcelorMittal. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
68. Miller, Ben (December 9, 2020). "Cleveland-Cliffs completes $1.4 billion ArcelorMittal USA acquisition". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2021.
69. "Company Briefs". The New York Times. November 20, 1986. p. 8 (Section D). Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
70. Davis 1964, p. 1.
71. Davis 1964, p. 31.
72. Van Hise 1901, pp. 363, 337.
73. Crowell & Murray 1914, p. 229.
74. Havinghurst 1958, p. 47.
75. ^ Davis 1964, p. 34.
76. Pederson, C. A. (March–April 1958). "Southern Minnesota's Iron Mines". The Minnesota Volunteer. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: 48–50. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
77. Minnesota Official Highway Map (Map). . Minnesota Department of Highways. 1960. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
78. "Laurentian Mixed Forest Province". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
79. "Minnesota Annual Snow Normal". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on July 21, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
80. "Minnesota Climate Extremes". Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Archived from the original on May 22, 2014. Retrieved May 23, 2014.

Sources

• Appleby, William (1920). Mining Directory of Minnesota for 1920. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. OCLC 1465786. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
• Crowell; Murray (1914). The Iron Ores of Lake Superior: Containing Some Facts of Interest Relating to Mining and Shipping of the Ore and Location of Principal Mines, with Original Maps of the Ranges. Cleveland: Penton Publishing Company. p. 229. ISBN 9781298644831. Retrieved December 7, 2017. steel blue hard iron ore vs. soft red iron ore.
• Davis, Edward Wilson (1964). Pioneering with Taconite. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-87351-496-5. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
• Gilbert Centennial. Gilbert, MN: Iron Range Historical Society. 2008. OCLC 946919644.
• Havinghurst, Walter (1958). Vein of Iron: The Pickands-Mather Story. Cleveland and New York: World Publishing Company. ASIN B0007DMAS0. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
• Lamppa, Marvin (1962). Ghost Towns and Locations of the Vermilion and East Mesabi Mining Districts (MA thesis). University of Minnesota. OCLC 19474669.
• Leighton, Hudson (1998). Gazetteer of Minnesota Railroad Towns, 1861–1997. Roseville, MN: Park Genealogical Books. ISBN 978-0-915709-61-8. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
• Phillipich, Leonard; et al. (1982). Elba-Elcor Reunion 1897–1956 'A Collection of Memories'. Gilbert, MN: Elcor Reunion Committee. OCLC 9063479.
• Upham, Warren (2001). Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia (Third ed.). St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-87351-396-8. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
• Van Brunt, Walter (1921). History of Duluth and St. Louis County; Their Story and People. Vol. 1. Chicago and New York: American Historical Society. ISBN 978-1-278-95208-6. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
• Van Hise, Charles Richard; United States Geological Survey (1901). The Iron-Ore Deposits of the Lake Superior Region (Second ed.). Washington: Government Printing Office. ISBN 978-1277081183. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
• Woodbridge, Dwight Edwards; Pardee, John Stone (1910). History of Duluth and St. Louis County, Past and Present. Vol. 1. Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Company. ISBN 978-1-235-82910-9. Archived from the original on June 9, 2021. Retrieved April 14, 2014.

Further reading

• Reynolds, Terry S.; Dawson, Virginia P. (2011). Iron Will: Cleveland-Cliffs and the Mining of Iron Ore, 1847–2006. Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8143-3511-6. Retrieved April 10, 2014.

External links

• Iron Range Historical Society Website
• "This Town (Ghost Town)" (2014), folk song about the disappearing Iron Range town of Sparta, Minnesota, at YouTube
• "Minnesota's Lost Mining Towns" (2019), Minnesota Legacy funded WDSE WRPT-PBS documentary

v t e Municipalities and communities of St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States
County seat: Duluth
Cities	Aurora Babbitt Biwabik Brookston Buhl Chisholm Cook Duluth Ely Eveleth Floodwood Gilbert Hermantown Hibbing Hoyt Lakes Iron Junction Kinney Leonidas McKinley Meadowlands Mountain Iron Orr Proctor Rice Lake Tower Virginia Winton
Townships	Alango Alborn Alden Angora Arrowhead Ault Balkan Bassett Beatty Biwabik Breitung Brevator Camp 5 Canosia Cedar Valley Cherry Clinton Colvin Cotton Crane Lake Culver Duluth Eagles Nest Ellsburg Elmer Embarrass Fairbanks Fayal Field Fine Lakes Floodwood Fredenberg French Gnesen Grand Lake Great Scott Greenwood Halden Industrial Kabetogama Kelsey Kugler Lakewood Lavell Leiding Linden Grove McDavitt Meadowlands Midway Morcom Morse Ness New Independence Normanna North Star Northland Owens Pequaywan Pike Portage Prairie Lake Sandy Solway Stoney Brook Sturgeon Toivola Van Buren Vermilion Lake Waasa White Willow Valley Wuori
CDPs	Mahnomen Nett Lake Soudan
Unincorporated communities	Alborn Angora Ash Lake Bassett Bear River Bengal Brimson Britt Burnett Burntside Buyck Canyon Celina Central Lakes Cherry Clover Valley Cotton Crane Lake Culver Cusson Eldes Corner Elmer Embarrass Fairbanks Florenton Forbes Four Corners French River Gheen Gheen Corner Glendale Gowan Greaney Idington Independence Island Lake Kabetogama Keenan Kelsey Linden Grove Makinen Maney Markham McComber Meadow Brook Melrude Munger Palmers Palo Paupores Payne Peary Petrel Peyla Pineville Prosit Ramshaw Robinson Rollins Saginaw Sax Shaw Sherman Corner Side Lake Silica Simar Skibo Sturgeon Taft Toivola Twig Vermilion Dam Wakemup Whiteface Wolf Zim
Unorganized territories	Angleworm Bear Head Lake Birch Lake Camp A Lake Crab Lake Dark River Gheen Hay Lake Heikkala Lake Hush Lake Janette Lake Leander Lake Linwood Lake Marion Lake McCormack Mud Hen Lake Nett Lake Northeast St. Louis Northwest St. Louis Pfeiffer Lake Picket Lake Potshot Lake Sand Lake Slim Lake Sturgeon River Sunday Lake Tikander Lake Whiteface Reservoir
Former CDP	Arnold
Ghost towns/ Neighborhoods	Costin Village Elcor Fermoy Kelly Lake Leetonia Little Swan Spina West Virginia
Indian reservations	Fond du Lac Indian Reservation‡ Lake Vermilion Indian Reservation Nett Lake Indian Reservation‡
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
Minnesota portal United States portal

• Company towns in Minnesota
• Cultural assimilation
• Former populated places in Minnesota
• Former populated places in St. Louis County, Minnesota
• Geography of St. Louis County, Minnesota
• Ghost towns in Minnesota
• Mining communities in Minnesota
• Neighborhoods in Minnesota
• 1897 establishments in Minnesota
• 1956 disestablishments in Minnesota
• Populated places established in 1897
• Populated places disestablished in 1956