Three-M-ite sample collection, 1935. 3M’s first profitable product was Three-M-ite, a flexible sandpaper. Here, Three-M-ite was packaged as a sample so prospective buyers could see the product.
This sample of anorthosite was mined by 3M in the corporation’s earliest era. The corporation intended to mine corundum for sandpaper manufacturing, but anorthosite was found instead. This led to a transformation in the corporation’s structure and a transition from mining to manufacturing.
Worker monitoring a machine inside the 3M plant in New Ulm, July 1974. Public domain. From the records of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 1944–2006, National Archives record group 412.
From its early beginnings on Lake Superior’s North Shore to its legacy of innovative manufacturing in St. Paul, 3M—formerly known as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company—has introduced both consumer and industrial products that have been successfully marketed worldwide.
A drum puller and reels of cable being strung for the Cooperative Power Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota/United Power Association, Elk River, Minnesota high-voltage power-line construction through Grant County, Minnesota, 1976–1978.
A crane helicopter lining up a power-line tower’s top portion with its base during construction of a high-voltage power line through Grant County, Minnesota, 1976-1978.
Peaceful March For Justice flyer, undated. The march was organized to protest the construction of power lines in rural Minnesota in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Used with the permission of Pope County Historical Society.