Environment | Page 8

Map of the iron ranges of the Lake Superior region

Map of the iron ranges of the Lake Superior region, ca. 2015. Created by W. F. Cannon for the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Lake Vermilion State Park Overlook

Lake Vermilion State Park Overlook. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user McGhiever, September 27, 2011. CC BY-SA 3.0

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

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.

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.

Map of Embarrass and adjoining townships in central St. Louis County

Map of Embarrass and adjoining townships in central St. Louis County, Minnesota. Wayne Gudmundson, Testaments in Wood: Finnish Log Structures at Embarrass, Minnesota (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1991), 12.

Matt and Kaisa Hill farmhouse in snow

The Matt and Kaisa Hill farmhouse (Pike Township, St. Louis County) in snow. Wayne Gudmundson, Testaments in Wood: Finnish Log Structures at Embarrass, Minnesota (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1991), 61. From the book: “Second-growth aspen trees growing around the Hill house have replaced larger pines that were cleared when the property was homesteaded in the late 1890s. The two-room dwelling, which overlooks the Pike River, measures nineteen feet by twenty-nine feet and is covered with drop siding and boxed corners that conceal tightly fitted hewn logs locked with double notches” (78).

MN90: Minnesota's Massive Fire of 1918

In a matter of hours, a series of devastating fires changed the look of Northern Minnesota for decades. The Cloquet/Moose Lake fires of 1918 resulted in a loss life, millions of dollars in property damage, and displacement of thousands of Minnesotans. Producer Allison Herrera tells us more about the spark that lit the flames in this MN90 segment.

Pigeon River border crossing

Pigeon River border crossing of Highway 61 between Grand Portage, Minnesota, and Ontario, Canada. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user Tony Webster, July 23, 2017. CC BY-SA 2.0

Tunnel section of Highway 61

The Silver Creek Cliff tunnel section of Highway 61, between Two Harbors and Silver Bay. Photograph by Wikimedia Commons user Tony Webster, September 27, 2017. CC BY-SA 2.0

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