The Iron Range Historical Society is a historical society that operates a research library in McKinley, Minnesota. The Society is a non-profit organization that exists through donations and volunteers. Its mission is "to collect, preserve, and share the history of Minnesota’s

Iron Range The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Much of the ore-bearing region lies alongside the range of granite hills formed by ...

s for the benefit of future generations." The Iron Range Historical Society was incorporated in 1973. Prior to moving to McKinley, the Society was located in Gilbert, Biwabik and

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

. The Iron Range Historical Society has a collection of more than 20,000 photographs in 90+ albums and old newspapers and city directories of people who lived in the larger Iron Range cities dating from 1899 until recent times. Additionally, the Society has Iron Range history books, photo displays, a few logging and

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

artifacts, family and oral histories, local high school and college yearbooks, city and township anniversary books, Iron Range maps, limited vital records, mine records, some hospital records (with limited access), and personal documents. The Iron Range Historical Society publishes four newsletters annually entitled ''Where History Comes Alive''. The Iron Range Historical Society made efforts in 1976 to save the last remaining

smokestack A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typ ...

at the Corsica Mine near

Elcor, Minnesota 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 Range, Mesabi Iron Range near the city of Gilbert, Minnesota, Gilbert in St. Louis C ...

. Architecturally significant, it was built by Cornish miners in 1901 and was the last of its kind on the Iron Range."Before...and After" September 29, 1976 Gilbert Herald (MN) The Iron Range Historical Society is located in the McKinley City Hall at 5454 Grand Avenue in McKinley, Minnesota.

References

External links

Iron Range Historical Society Website
{{authority control Cornish-American culture in Minnesota Historical societies in Minnesota History museums in Minnesota Mining museums in Minnesota Museums in St. Louis County, Minnesota Research libraries in the United States