USA > Minnesota > St Louis County > Duluth > Duluth and St. Louis County, Minnesota; their story and people; an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development, Volume II > Part 10
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and "under the direction of Capt. George W. Wallace became an example of the best results that could be obtained from the milling process." The Auburn was considered in 1894 to have "one of the finest plants and locations on the range." In 1894, 110,809 tons were shipped. Nothing has been mined from the Auburn since 1902, and up to that time a total of 2,143,028 tons had been shipped, leaving still available 1,793,917 tons. It is a reserve property of the Oliver Iron Mining Company.
Other Important Dormant Mines .- The history of several other important mining properties in the Virginia district is similar to that of the Norman and Auburn, in that there are enormous deposits available, but unworked. The Great Western and Great Northern properties were partly explored by the Merritts; the Great Western Reserve belongs to the Oliver Company and is considerd part of the Auburn : not a ton has been mined of 5,108,305 tons available. The Moose is another Oliver property from which nothing has been taken of the proved deposit of 8,688.651 tons. From the Shaw, adjoining, nothing has been mined of 5,703,195 tons available. The Minnewas mine has given 68,084 tons of its 11,313,710 deposit. The Sauntry has a deposit of 18,573,108 tons, and not a ton of shipment is listed, while another undeveloped portion has a reserve of 6,628,395 tons, according to the Minnesota School of Mines statistics. From the Alpena mine, classed on the shipping list as the Sauntry-Alpena mine, and including shipments from the Sauntry mine, 9,193,272 tons have come since the two mines were first opened, and there is a reserve of about three million tons. These mines all belong to the Oliver Iron Mining Company, or are leased to them.
The "Moose was first explored by A. E. Humphreys. Later John B. Weimer secured an option on it and made further explorations but lost it. The property was afterwards sold for $400,000 and was cheap at the price.
The Shaw, adjoining the Moose, was one of the earliest exploita- tions. The Shaw Iron Company, capitalized at $3,000,000, was organ- ized on December 19, 1891, by D. W. Scott, J. E. Davies and R. H. Palmer. It was a Merritt promotion, the first officers being: D. W. Scott, president; A. R. Merritt, treasurer; A. J. Tallow, secretary ; Alfred, E. T. and C. C. Merritt, and H. T. Hildebrand, directors. Their operations, however, did not reach the producing stage, and that has not yet been reached by their successors.
The Minnewas Mine was explored by Louis Rouchleau, and developed as an underground mine by Captain Cohoe and Capt. Phil Scadden in 1893, in which year 13,858 tons were shipped.
The Sauntry .- The Sauntry property was explored "in the early days by a man named McDonald, for the Musser-Sauntry Lumber Company, of Stillwater. It was later sold to the Oliver Iron Mining Company for $750,000, and in the spring of 1900 stripping operations began, William Montague being then superintendent, and Otis Was- son, captain. "After considerable overburden had been moved, the work was discontinued, and the property has been idle since" stated a 1907 review.
The Alpena .- The Alpena adjoins the Sauntry. It was explored by Capt. M. L. Fay, for the Yawkey interests, "who sold it to the Steel Corporation."
The Minorca .- Captains M. L. Fay, J. H. Pearce and Harry Roberts discovered ore on the Minorca in 1900. They afterwards sold the lease to Pickands Mather and Company, "the first two receiv-
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ing $30,000 each, and the latter $65,000." The mine was opened in 1901, and became a shipper in 1902. Captain Joseph Roskilly was in charge. The mine was worked steadily until 1915, at the end of which year there was only an available deposit of 25,000 tons. Nothing has since been shipped and Pickands Mather and Company have given up the lease.
Larkin Mine .- This mine, as the Tesora, was explored by Capt. M. L. Fay, and the Tesora Mining Company was formed to operate it, Captain Fay and W. H. Yawkey, the fee owner, constituting the company. They sank a shaft in 1906, with the intention of mining the ore, but an opportunity came to lease it, which they did to the New York State Steel Company, the mine then being changed in name to the Larkin, under which name it has since been known. Mining began in 1906 and ended in 1913, a total of 204,837 tons being mined. No further quantity has been proved up.
Onondaga .- The Onondaga mine, a small property, was operated by the Republic Iron and Steel Company for six years, which ended in 1913, but only about 200,000 tons have been mined.
Columbia Mine .- The Columbia mine, north of the city of Vir- ginia, was explored for A. E. Humphreys and his associates in 1900. They sold the property, or the lease, to the Inter-State Iron Company. A shaft was then sunk, and shipments began in 1901, but mining had to be abandoned because of "the great volume of water encountered." Another attempt was made in 1905, but only 1,500 tons had been mined when mining ceased. Nothing has since been done with the property which eventually, presumably, will be made to yield its four million tons deposit. The Inter-State Iron Company still controls the property.
Quantity Still Available in the Virginia District .- It has been stated that there must be at least three hundred million tons of ore still unworked in the Virginia district, and the probability is that when that quantity has been mined more will still be available. Min- ing cannot be claimed to be carried on to the limit of production at present, but from the Virginia group in 1919 about 2.500,000 tons of ore were shipped.
Mining is not the only industry of Virginia, by the way, but it is undoubtedly its mainstay.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY
Growth of the "Queen City."-Virginia was "nothing but a dense and untracked forest in 1892"; in 1920 it was the fifth city of the state. In 1892 its bank deposits were almost nil; in 1920 they were $4.300,000. In 1893 it had the use of one room for school purposes; in 1920 the cost of one school only, of the fourteen owned by the Virginia school district, was about $1,500,000. There are as many teachers today in the Virginia schools as there were pupils in 1893. In 1892 there was one little portable sawmill; in 1920 Virginia could be proud of the fact that within the city limits is the largest white pine mill in the world. In 1893 about 230,000 tons of ore were shipped : in 1920 about two and a half million tons were mined, at which rate of ship- ment the ore deposits already proved in the Virginia district will last, probably, for more than another one hundred years. Virginia had one building for public purposes in 1893-church, lecture hall, concert room, community center ; today there are a dozen substantial church
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buildings, some millions of dollars worth of school structures, a $275,000 courthouse, a $60,000 library, four theatres, a "sky-scraping" office building, a $100,000 opera house, and a couple of good hotels. Virginia hadn't a foot of paved highway in 1893; in 1920 she had more than sixteen miles of paving and twenty-six miles of sidewalk. In 1892 the total assessed value of Virginia was $4,640, upon which the total levy was $38.05; in 1919 the total valuation of the city of Virginia was $16,873,834 and the total taxes $1,525,394.59.
By these outstanding comparisons may be gauged Virginia's advance to metropolitan status in little more than a generation.
The Beginning .- Mining developments in the "Virginia Loop" of the Mesabi range during the spring and summer of 1892 made it quite evident to the mining explorers that a communal centre must soon develop near the mines. While in the first excitement and uncer- tainty of mining exploration, little thought was paid to more than emergency shelter, but with the ever-increasing discovery, and the rapidly-increasing number of men engaged in the preliminary, the matter of townsite, and the advantage that would accrue from the promotion of one, soon demanded consideration and recognition.
Planning the Townsite .- One alert group of explorers and pro- moters, those associated with A. E. Humphreys, early came to that opinion, and proceeded to select and to secure the most favorable site for a village. These .men were A. E. Humphreys, David T. Adams, John Owens, G. W. Milligan, Frank Cox and Neil McInnis. Several other mining men, among them O. D. Kinney and George W. Buck, were interested in helping the project forward, but the men directly concerned in the promotion of the townsite company were Humphreys, Adams, Milligan, Eckman and Cox. The Virginia Im- provement Company was organized by these men on July 12, 1892, the company being capitalized at $50.000.
Finding a Name .- Regarding the early planning of Virginia David T. Adams writes :
It would seem to some people an easy matter to arrive at a name for a townsite in that country, especially at a time when the entire country was in its natural state and covered with timber, but, foolish as it may look, it seemed hard for the promoters to decide among themselves. Each proposed a different name, and insisted that their's was the only one, and before a name was agreed upon considerable dissension arose among the promoters. I had previously selected the place for the townsite; the idea was mine from the first. I engaged the services of M. E. Cook, an engineer of Duluth, to sur- vey the townsite. I had everything done in my own way, and there was no complaint from the promoters, and for these reasons I thought I was entitled to the sole right of giving it a name. I proposed the name "Humphreys." in honor of A. E. Humphreys, but the name was rejected. I believe Mr. G. E. Milligan stated that, as the town was in a virgin country, and the first to be platted on the range with any prospective future, a name at least suggestive of the virgin country should be found. After two or three days of deliberation, I believe I suggested the name "Virginia," thinking it an appropriate name that would answer all purposes, as it would still be in honor of Mr. Humphreys, as Virginia was his home state, and would also be suggestive of the country. Hence, the name "Virginia" was finally agreed upon. Thereafter, on July 12, 1892, the Virginia Improvement Company was organized by myself, G. E. Milligan, A. E. Humphreys, Frank Cox and S. W. Eckman, and the original plat of Virginia was filed for record, on September 13, 1892. Then the lots were ready for sale.
Sale of First Lots .- We rented a vacant storeroom in Duluth, hung up a large plat on the wall, with maps showing the deposits of ore which had been developed up to that time around Virginia, and where others could be found, and then advertised the lots to be sold at public auction. The sale took place, with Captain Carr, of Charleston, West Virginia, as our auctioneer, and the first lots sold in the townsite of Virginia were sold that way.
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The first lots on the townsite were sold at "prices running from $300 to $400 per lot." The timber "was slashed out along what is now Chestnut Street * * and a few rough buildings erected that * fall." The work of clearing the townsite was in charge of John Scott.
At about the same time the Virginia Light and Water Company was organized by Messrs. O. D. Kinney, A. E. Humphreys and George D. Buck, by which early promotion it seems clear that the projectors believed that the town planned would soon develop into .a place of importance and of profit to holders of public utilities.
Petition to Incorporate .- In September, 1893, a petition was cir- culated among the people resident in the district and it was signed by forty-four men. The petition was addressed to "the County Com- missioners of the County of St. Louis, State of Minnesota," who were "prayed" to approve of the necessary legal formalities being taken to effect the incorporation of land "regularly laid out and platted" and as shown on the plat filed in the office of the Registrar of Deeds on the 13th day of September, 1892. The petition stated that census taken on September 14, 1892, showed that "on said day the resident popula- tion of said territory so sought to be incorporated was found to be 181 ;" and the petition asked that the proposed village be designated as the village of "Virginia." The signers were Richard O'Neal, M. J. Grady, John Hoy, Dougal Johnson, John Byrne, Mike Hines, Geo. Morris, John Gibbins, Pete Johanson, Ole Sattos, John Nossorn, Isaac Koski, Frank Neddon, Ole Anderson, George M. Rees, J. R. Humphrey, H. Vanhorn, Hugh McMahon, P. J. Foley, Chas. Johnson, Thomas Huartson, William Bradley, James Hill, John Haley, James Ryan, Alex. Cain, Louis Rood, Fred Rossom, Will A. F. Williams, Joe Elliott, N. A. Beatty, Tom Short, John Thorsby, John Graham, John Elfstrom, Peter Elfstrom, G. A. Peterson, James Graham, Peter Berg- lund, Nupifti Jappila, Wm. Harvey, Chas. French, Robert McGruer, P. W. Scott.
The regularity of petition, and accuracy of its statements were vouched for by P. W. Scott, Thomas Short and Robert McGruer, on September 19, 1892, on which day the paper appears to have been presented to the county officials.
Petition Granted .- At the October session of the Board of County Commissioners the petition was considered and approved ; whereupon the county commissioners ordered election to be held, to ascertain the will of the residents, on the 12th day of November, 1892, "at the store building of E. C. Burk, situated upon lots numbered 32 and 33 in block 21 of the Town of "Virginia," according to the recorded plat thereof." P. W. Scott, Thomas Short and Robert McGruer were appointed "to preside as inspectors at such meeting and election." Notices of Election were posted "at the sawmill and boarding house of J. E. Sher, situated in block 9 on Wyoming avenue ; * at the office of the Virginia Improvement Company, on lot 32, in block 19, on Chestnut Street ; * * at the store of E. C. Burk ; * nut Street : *
at the Hotel of Nels Anderson, situated on lot 15 in block 26 on Chest- * at the office of Nigro and Librock, situated upon lot 8 in block 24, on Chestnut Street, all in Virginia." The meeting, or preliminary election, was duly and regularly held, and sixty-five ballots were cast, sixty-four being "For incorporation ; yes," and one "no."
First Election .- Accordingly, the county commissioners ordered an carly meeting of voters, so that village officials might be elected, and the incorporation completed. The election was held on Tuesday,
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December 6, 1892. The following-named residents were elected to constitute the first village administration : John Owens, president; Howard Filegal, George Liebrock and John F. Towell, trustee; John F. Burke, recorder, and Neil McInnis, treasurer.
Virginia a Railway Station .- One day after the election took place Virginia was, on December 7, 1892, given the facility of railway connection, the spur of the Merritt railway, the Duluth, Missabe and Northern, being completed from Wolf Junction to Virginia on that day. Thereafter, the growth of the village was very rapid.
Growth had been almost impossible before, because those who wished to reach the place "were compelled to travel to the west along 'tote roads' which were almost impassable" all the way from Mesaba station, a stopping place on the Duluth and Iron Range railroad. It was the only point on a railroad from which any of the Mesabi expe- ditions could start, and there was such a tremendous rush of exploring parties, and such a heavy traffic developed by their operations, that in the early nineties the only corduroy road became almost impassable. In the late summer of 1892 the Duluth, Missabe and Northern reached Mountain Iron, which made the road much shorter for the people of Virginia; still that road soon reached the state in which it was a hardship to have to walk or ride along it, and much traffic was impossible. So it is possible to "imagine the joy that abounded when the first sixteen cars of miscellaneous freight reached Virginia on the afternoon of December 7, 1892. Part of the freight brought in by the first train was the machinery for the waterworks plant." A little later the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad also reached the city.
First Frame Store Building .- Tradespeople began to flock in, and temporary buildings gave place to "some of more substantial char- acter." "Every line of retail business was soon represented." "One of the first frame buildings was put up by the Maas Hardware Com- pany, on the northwest corner of Chestnut street and Central avenue."
First Sawmill .- One of the great inconveniences experienced by the early settlers was the lack of lumber for building purposes. The only means by which it was possible to get any lumber at all was by "importing it from other places," at considerable trouble and ex- pense. However, this was soon partly remedied, John Owens bring- ing in a small portable mill, which he placed "on the shore of Vir- ginia lake," near where the Primary school building later stood. John Owens had many tasks to do at that time, and in the sawmilling busi- ness he took into partnership a man named Robert McGruer, who operated the mill, which was soon working at full capacity. Even then, it could not cope with the demand for lumber, and when the place really began its first spurt, in the fall of 1892, the little mill could not hope to cope with the requirement. However, relief was in sight, for it appears :
The first of October, 1892, the news was heralded throughout Virginia that Finlayson and Company, of St. Paul, had purchased 50,000,000 feet of pine in the vicinity, and had decided to erect at once a large sawmill on a site leased from the Virginia Townsite Company. This meant the employment of at least 100 men in the sawmill itself.
It does not seem, however, that this larger mill was "at once" erected, otherwise it probably would have met the same fate as Owens' mill, which was destroyed in the fire which also destroyed the village of Virginia, in June, 1893. The Finlayson mill was in existence and operation in 1900, when it was also burned, at the time of the second razing of the city. For some years prior to its destruction in 1900,
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however, the Finlayson mill was in the possession of Moon and Kerr.
A Distinguished Early Visitor .- W. J. Olcott, who later took over the direction of the mines owned by Rockefeller, and eventually became president of the Oliver Iron Mining Company stated, in 1908:
I remember my first visit to Virginia, in 1892, when there was only one small log building there, and that was on the hill near the Missabe Mountain mine. Some people reported before I made the trip that the ore on the Mesabi range was no good, and would never be merchantable. However, I went on horseback from Mesaba station, on the D. & I. R., through to Hibbing, took my samples from test-pits, and found high-grade ore.
He probably never expected that near the log hut at the Missabe Mountain mine would grow the fifth city of the whole state within a generation.
First School .- Although School District No. 22 was not organized until February 1, 1893, there is record that a term of school was held "in the winter of 1892-93" and that eighteen children attended the school in that term. The school-house "was a one-roomed frame building," heated by wood stove, the fuel "to feed it being chopped off the timber on the lot."
A school history, written in 1904, makes the following statement regarding the first school :
"There had been a school, taught by Sarah Gleason, from March, 1893, to June of the same year, in Herman Niculou's house, which house was later burned. It was located on lot 7, block 20."
Conditions That Prevailed in Early Virginia .- There was no church building in Virginia before the fire of 1893, but Crockett's Opera House, which was one of the first halls to be built on the range, was available for any public meeting. It went the way of all other burnable property in Virginia in 1893. In the winter of 1893, a two- story frame building was built by William Hayes. It became known as Hayes' Hall, and in it were held all public meetings, and indoor gatherings, church services, minstrel show, dog fights, socials, bac- chanalian carousals, and gambling events. On the ground floor of Hayes' Hall the village barber had his shop, fronting the sidewalk; the central rooms were used as a saloon ; and in the rear were gambling dens, it appears, while "back of that was the Enterprise office." The upper floor was, seemingly, unfinished, the floor being of loose boards. Here, the public meetings were held. At one end "was a platform on trestles"; the trestles, however, were beer kegs. When church service was held "beer kegs were rustled together" in suf- ficient number to provide seating with planks. The first minister of the Gospel to hold services in that environment was, it is said, a Presbyterian, who came from Tower, the Rev. E. N. Raymond, a worthy pioneer minister, who knew the Greek Testament well. but knew men just as well. The story has it that when he first came in, on a Saturday evening, he saw several groups of men. all much en- grossed in games with cards. He stayed with them for an hour or so, and actually "took a hand." 'Before he left, the men had "warmed" to him, so that when he invited them "upstairs to church meeting next day" many promised to come, and it seems "all the men attended."
It was not an unusual occurrence in those early days for a miner to "ride up to a saloon bar on horseback:" and when the village streets were graced with lamp-posts, it was not uncommon to see a line of drying clothes hanging between posts on Chestnut Street. That was the period in which Virginia was what some people still
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imagine mining villages of the Mesabi range must be. But the pe- riod, fortunately, was soon over, and the civic dress and social stand- ard of Virginia of today are as well ordered as an eastern city of very much longer establishment might expect to prevail.
Fire Department Organized .- Albert E. Bickford was one of the men who saw Virginia through her "pioneer stage of crudity," and helped it through, if one may judge from the fact that he has been city clerk for twenty-two years. He was not long in recognizing that the greatest danger was of fire. there being such a stand of resin- ous timber around the little village. He organized a volunteer fire company on March 10, 1893. C. W. Musser, in his "Virginia in the Great State of Minnesota," writes, regarding it :
* in March, 1893, * nearly every able-bodied man in town assembled in the rear of William Hayes' saloon, and organized Virginia's first fire-fighting squad.
The first chief was E. W. Coons; the first secretary, P. J. Ryan ; and the company was no doubt of service in the following June, though they could not save the village. The Virginia Fire Department Re- lief Association was organized in May, 1895, and is a strong fraternal and financial body.
The First Fire .- The first check Virginia was destined to expe- rience was in June, 1893, when it was "swept off the map," or at most had no more visible property above the surface than the twisted and half-molten remains of what hardware their residences, now ashes, once contained. The "Virginian," industrial edition, of August 30, 1907, reports the catastrophe as follows :
By June 1, 1893, Virginia had become the most important town on the range. There were over fifteen developed mines in the vicinity of the village, and the town had a population of almost 5,000 people. But in the midst of the season of growth and prosperity came a blow which was a severe check upon the development of the town. On Sunday, June 18, 1893, a terrible bush fire was raging southwest of the village. It was a very hot day. Everything was dry and parched as it possibly could be. A strong southwest wind had begun to blow, and this drove the flames directly towards the town, and forty minutes after the first shanty in the outskirts of the village had begun to burn there was nothing left of Virginia, the metropolis of the range. No doubt this catastrophe discouraged our early citizens and many of the faint-hearted left the town never to return, but there were others who had the bravery, the pioneer strength, hope and spirit, that caused a larger and more beautiful Vir- ginia to rise from the ashes of the old.
It was a disaster, a catastrophe, but not a holocaust, as that word is generally understood; it was not a calamity like that which came to Hinckley in the same year, or like that which swept property and life from many parts of Northern Minnesota in 1918. Property was gone, but Virginians still lived, and it was only a question of time be- fore she would recover. As a matter of fact, the recovery was quick, notwithstanding the hard times of that year. And times certainly were hard.
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