Wow. I'm almost too tired to write at all today! We were up later than planned, but still managed to be out the door, picnic in the cooler by 9:45 AM. Our day started in Chisolm at the Minnesota Discover Center (once known as Ironworld). The entrance to the place is underwhelming to say the least, so we were pleasantly surprised that there was plenty to see and do once on the grounds. There is a small cabin displaying lots of information about the Civillian Conservation Corps in Minnesota. Another building was a museum dealing mostly with the mining industry, its effects on the area (both on the terrain and the towns that sprung up), and innovation in general. A small storybooks come alive type area was not of interest to my boys, but it would have been neat when they were younger. Mom and I enjoyed a display of old-fashioned toy pedal cars.
We had our picnic lunch then took a ride on a trolley. The Mesaba Railroad had an electric trolley that ran in the Chisolm and Hibbing area in the early 1900s. Our ride took us around the property so that we overlooked several abandoned open pit mines. They have all filled in with water and are now lakes over 300 feet deep. What was most striking is that the terrain was drastically altered by the mines but by no means feels barren or spoiled. Less than 60 years after the mines closed in the area, it is covered with forests and lakes.
The trolley also brought us to an area with several restored buildings and early mining equipment, mostly from the early 1900s. There was a train depot, a bunkhouse (that would have been used by railroad men), and boardinghouse (for single miners), and a location home (a miner's family would have lived in the 425 square foot house, possibly with boarders as well). When the mine got too large, the location homes would have been demolished or sold and moved. The mines often expanded to take over the site where people were living, and they would just move to families to a new area. The boys were able to climb into a steam shovel, and there was an original water tower and some other equipment on site as well. During World War II, 75% of the iron ore needed for the war effort came from Minnesota's Iron Range.
The last leg of the trolley journey took us past the huge Iron Man statue erected in 1976. It's the 3rd largest free standing statue in the US. Iron Man is wearing a hard hat that used to light up. It was struck by lightning and had to be replace so many times that they decided to stop replacing the light in the hard hat!
When the trolley got back, the boys and I left Mom to rest at the front building and explored more of the grounds. We were able to see a very small cabin that would have been lived in by a single man living a solitary lifestyle in the woods. We then moved to a homestead display. In this area, the boys learned a bit about what it mean to be a homesteader in Minnesota, saw a wooden Finnish-style sauna, and visited a homestead from the late 1800s. Inside, a woman was showing kids how to make a toy from a button and string and displaying yarn she had spun herself and dyed with flowers and other natural dyes. Out back, she had a fire going with a pot full of deep yellow dye made from marigolds. She talked to us for quite some time about the homesteading lifestyle. Children often had shoes made out of birch bark - they didn't last long. In the winter, shoes were made of rabbit skin - They would skin the rabbit, sew one end of the "tube" of skin shut, and turn them inside out for shoes! It seems no wonder that a large percentage of Finnish immigrants (something like 30%) went back to Finland.
I especially enjoyed seeing different kinds of buildings (a sod covered hut, a small food storage building with a living roof, and more). There were several nice overlooks in the Discovery Center, too.
After we left the Discovery Center, we drove into downtown Chisolm and saw the Minnesota Museum of Mining. We chose to save that for another day!
On our way back towards the cabin, we stopped in Evelyth to see the Leonidis Overlook. It sits on a huge hill of discarded mining rubble. You can look over another mine, and you are actually higher than the Evelyth water tower. I also made it a point to see the Big Stick. There's not much to say about the Big Stick. I almost drove by it, but thankfully Zachary saved us by catching sight of it and sending me back around the block. It's a huge hockey stick and puck. That's all there is to the Big Stick. We think we may start a new Case Family Odyssey of searcing for oversized sporting equipment all over the U.S. We already know where to find a Big Bat!
On a whim, we also decided to check out an overlook in Virginia, MN. We drive past it every year on our way up. I honestly thought it was a tourist trap thing every time I drove by, but it's a free area operated by the Chamber of Commerce. There is an awesome view of an old open pit mine, and also of a mine that is currently in operation. We saw several huge (and I do mean huge) dump trucks being filled and sent up the hill to the processing area. We even talked to a retired miner who was just hanging out watching the mining operation. I'm so glad we stopped there.
We did not get back to the cabin until 7:15 PM - way past our dinner time! We had yesterday's fish that we had to prepare. So, mom made the fish, and I made a squash, rice, and orzo dish out of some of the CSA squash that we brought up in the cooler. Zachary was extremely helpful cleaning up after dinner. He washed most of the dishes (which is a VERY slow process for him!) and was just really pleasant and cooperative tonight. Jeremy fell asleep before dinner, but he was able to be roused with the promise of fresh-caught fish fixed by Grandma!
We are all pretty wiped out after our long and fun day on the Iron Range.
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