Tower, Minnesota Duluth & Iron Range Depot
Tower, Minnesota Duluth & Iron Range Depot
Native Americans had settlements around what we now call Pike Bay on Lake Vermilion in far Northern Minnesota for millennia. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation in the area that goes back to before 7,000 BC.
I have seen two Native names for the lake. One was "Nee-Man-Nee" which means "The Evening Sun Tinting the Water a Reddish Color." Another, attributed to the Ojibwe, was "Onamuni" which means "Lake of the Sunset Glow." Both names could just be different pronunciations or spellings of the same Native name.
After the arrival of Europeans in the mid-1600's, the Northwest Company and the American Fur Company built trading posts in the area and the fur trade thrived here. French fur traders translated the Native American name for the lake to the Latin word, "Vermilion" which stands for a red to yellow colored pigment.
In 1865, the area became the northwest terminus of the Vermilion Trail which had been forged between Duluth and what was to become Tower, to handle the influx of gold rush prospectors after small flecks of gold were found in some quartz stone. The gold rush fizzled out in 1866 when they discovered that it would not be profitable to mine. Most of the prospectors' claims were abandoned by 1867, but in their search for gold, they had found rich deposits of hematite, some containing 65% iron or more. Nearly twenty years later, the area began to attract people again once iron mining started becoming a reality.
The first saw mill was built here in 1882. The Soudan Mine, first iron mine on the Vermilion Range and Minnesota's first iron mine, was opened in 1883. Along with the mine came the need to ship the ore they were mining.
To address that need, the Charlemagne Tower had acquired the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad in 1882, and the first iron ore was shipped from here in 1884. The original depot was built sometime before 1886. This first depot was basically just a freight depot, even though the maps of the day listed it as a passenger depot.
Starting around 1908, the D&IR started promoting tourism in the Lake Vermilion area and the old freight depot wasn't serving their needs. After years of inaction, it was announced in February 1916 that a new passenger depot would finally be built in a more suitable location than the site of original depot.
Architect, William H. Beyrer designed the new depot and contractor, George Spurbeck built it at a cost of $10,000. The first train arrived at the new depot on November 25, 1916.
The Duluth & Iron Range railway became part of the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range in 1938 when the Duluth, Missabe and Northern railroad merged with several small railroads.
The Tower Depot provided passenger service until 1951 when ridership had finally declined to the point of no return. The building continued to be used as a freight depot until 1962 when the Soudan Mine was closed.
US Steel donated the Soudan Mine to the State of Minnesota for educational purposes in 1965. The DM&IR donated the depot to the City of Tower in 1966.
The mine, which has a shaft that is 2,341 feet (713.5 meters) deep, became the Soudan Underground Mine State Park and park visitors are able to ride in an 80+ year old electric mine hoist to the bottom and back. An adjoining Lake Vermilion State Park that will offer camping and other recreational activities is currently being developed. The Lake Vermilion region has been a resort and tourism mecca since the early 1900's. This new State Park will provide more opportunity for the public to experience the beauty of this place.
The old DM&IR depot now serves as the Tower-Soudan Historical Society Center museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 24, 2013, NRHP reference # 13000380.
Pictured above is the D&IR #218 steam locomotive. After the D&IR's 1938 merger of several other small railroads, it became DM&IR #1218.
It was built by Burnham, Williams & Co. (which eventually became Baldwin Locomotive Works). The K class 2-8-0 locomotive was one of 12 delivered to the D&IR in 1910. It was one of 26 of this same design that the D&IR bought from Burnham, Williams. The 200 psi boiler and 56 22"x28" cylinders drove eight 54" drivers that helped give the locomotive the capability of pulling 48 loaded 50-ton cars. These locomotives were eventually replaced by bigger, more powerful machines, such as the massive 2-8-8-4 DM&IR #227 Yellowstone pictured below.
The 1218 above was donated to the City of Tower by the DM&IR in 1962.
