Opened in 1882 by the Minnesota Mining Company, Breitung pit was part of the first iron ore mine on the Vermillion Range. Ore from this pit made up the first commercial shipment of Minnesota Iron Ore out of the Agate Bay ore docks, Two Harbors, Minnesota July 31, 1884.
Image of a group of men posing for a photograph next to a hoist and derrick system. Man standing on deck tips a steel bucket into a large pile of iron ore. Identified as hoist at Shaft Number 3 at the Cincinnati Mine, first hoist on the Mesabi Range. Mine was owned by the Standard Ore Company of Duluth. Photograph shows the first bucked of ore hoisted from the site.
Miners are wearing helmet lanterns lit with a single candle. They pose outside of a hoist leading to an underground mine. Note the teenage boy holding jackhammer and young boy with two hammers in his hand.
A view of an iron mine in Virginia, Minnesota. The view looks down a deep trench. Mining equipment stand to the left, and houses can be seen in the distance to the left.
A group of miners standing in an unidentified open pit mine. The location of this photograph is unknown; but the Iron Range includes parts of the following Minnesota counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis.
A group of miners standing in an unidentified open pit mine. The location of this photograph is unknown; but the Iron Range includes parts of the following Minnesota counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis.
A group of miners standing in an unidentified open pit mine. The location of this photograph is unknown; but the Iron Range includes parts of the following Minnesota counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis.
A group of miners standing in an unidentified open pit mine. The location of this photograph is unknown; but the Iron Range includes parts of the following Minnesota counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis.
A group of miners standing in an unidentified open pit mine. The location of this photograph is unknown; but the Iron Range includes parts of the following Minnesota counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis.
A group of miners standing in an unidentified open pit mine, with head frame in background. The location of this photograph is unknown; but the Iron Range includes parts of the following Minnesota counties: Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake and St. Louis.