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.