Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting the Minneapolis Symphony in performance

Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting the Minneapolis Symphony in performance

Dimitri Mitropoulos conducting the Minneapolis Symphony in performance, October 31, 1945. Photo from the Minneapolis Star–Journal.

Northland / Mesaba Transportation Company

In 1914, miners often walked two miles from their homes in Alice, Minnesota, to their jobs in the iron mines of Hibbing, even during dangerous winters. Former driller and failing car salesman C. Eric Wickman changed that when he decided to use a Hupmobile to transport miners for a small fee: 15 cents for a one-way trip and 25 cents for a round trip. Wickman’s service became one of the earliest examples of intercity busing in the US and, fifteen years later, led to the establishment of the multimillion-dollar Greyhound Bus Corporation.

Soudan Mine workers

Soudan Mine workers

Oliver Iron Mining (OIM) workers at the Soudan Mine, 1950–1962.

Underground mine, Tower

Underground mine, Tower

Underground mine at Tower, 1930.

Charlemagne Tower

Charlemagne Tower

Charlemagne Tower, ca. 1915.

Ore trams in Pioneer “A” mine, Ely

Ore trams in Pioneer “A” mine, Ely

A man drives a chain of ore trams in the Pioneer “A” mine in Ely, ca. 1905–1910.

Mine in the Vermilion Range

Mine in the Vermilion Range

A mine in the Vermilion Iron Range operated by the Minnesota Iron Company, 1891. Photograph by Crandal & Fletcher Studio, Duluth.

Mine 8, Tower

Mine 8, Tower

Miners pose for a photograph during their work at Mine 8 in Tower, on the Vermilion Iron Range. Photograph by George A. Newton, ca. 1885.

Vermilion Iron Range

The Vermilion Range, with its distinctive hard and high-grade iron ore deposits, looms large in the history of the mining industry in Minnesota. It was the first range to open (1884) and also the first to cease commercial mining operations (1967) due to changes in the steel-making process and the rise of cheaper-to-produce taconite on the nearby Mesabi Range. After mining ended, the area’s protected wilderness spaces—including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness—took center stage in a new regional economy based on tourism and conservation.

Woman operating a drill press

Woman operating a drill press

Woman operating a drill press at the Honeywell plant in Minneapolis, 1945. Photograph by the Minneapolis Star-Journal.

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