Milford Mine Memorial Park near Wolford in Crow Wing County, Minnesota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

The Cuyuna Iron Range

— Milford Mine Memorial Park —

Photographed by McGhiever, June 27, 2025

1. The Cuyuna Iron Range Marker

Inscription.

Minnesota's Iron Ranges
The Vermilion, the Mesabi and the Cuyuna are Minnesota's three major iron ranges.

This commercial postcard illustrates the well-known mining heritage of the Cuyuna Range. Note the statement about Minnesota's iron mines producing 80% of the world's iron ore.
Photo courtesy of the Cuyuna Iron Range Heritage Network.

The Cuyuna Iron Range is the furthest south and west of Minnesota's three major iron ranges. The Cuyuna Range was actively mined over seven decades, with peak activity during the war years. The manganese-rich ore was valued in the production of hard, durable steel needed for industry across the United States.

The Rich Ore of the Cuyuna Range Some of the ore bodies in the northern part of the Cuyuna Range have a high manganese content, compared to other North American iron sources. The ore produced hard, durable steel, and was in high demand, especially during World War I and World War II. The Cuyuna Iron Range held the largest supply of manganiferous iron ore in the United States.

Working at the Mines Poor economic conditions and World War I brought an influx of immigrants

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to the Cuyuna Range. People came from Great Britain, Croatia, Ukraine, Italy, Scandinavia and Germany, as well as from Canada and the United States. They came to work in the mines, to seek a better life, to pursue the American Dream. The mines advertised throughout the United States and abroad, offering full-time, year-round jobs with housing options.

The work was hard, and the workday was long. Cuyuna mines operated with two ten-hour work shifts. The remaining four hours of the day were used for pumping groundwater out of the deep, underground mines.

Jobs were available for those as young as fourteen, shoveling coal and performing other non-skilled tasks on the surface. Below, miners saw an opportunity for advancement, although it took as long as twenty years to move through the ranks to the highest paying jobs.

The work also had a dangerous side. Over the decades of mining on the Cuyuna range, 200 miners lost their lives, including the forty-one who died in the Milford Mine disaster of 1924.

Many mines, including the Milford, offered on-site housing. The small dwellings lining the Milford's main street were available for

The Cuyuna Iron Range Marker (left) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by McGhiever, June 27, 2025

2. The Cuyuna Iron Range Marker (left)

rent to miners with families. A single-men's boarding house was also available on site. Mining companies also offered houses in towns near the mines.
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society

Underground miners often came to the surface for their lunch break.
Photo courtesy of the Cuyuna Iron Range Heritage Network.

Cuyuna Range miner Francis Franklin in the Armour #2 underground mine. This photo was taken in 1967, the last year at the last operational underground mine in Minnesota.
Photo courtesy of the Cuyuna Iron Range Heritage Network

Exploration As early as 1859, land surveyors noted magnetic anomalies as they worked through the area. In the 1880s, Cuyler Adams noticed a strong magnetic pull on his compass as he surveyed his land near Deerwood. For several years Adams and his business partners conducted exploratory drilling in the area that would become the range bearing his name. They found a body of ore near Rabbit Lake, and in 1907 opened the first mine on the Cuyuna Range, the Kennedy Mine.

Using a steam-powered diamond drill to extract ore-exploration cores near Crosby, 1911.
Photo courtesy of the

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Cuyuna Iron Range Heritage Network

Developing the Mines The railroad was needed to deliver coal and supplies to the mines and to get ore to eastern steel mills. The first train carried coal to the Kennedy Mine in 1911. Shortly thereafter, the Kennedy shipped the first Cuyuna Range ore to Lake Superior shipping docks.

With rail service established, new mines opened across the Cuyuna Range. Eleven mines were in operation in 1912. Two years later that number grew to sixteen. World War I greatly increased the demand for manganese-rich Cuyuna Range iron ore. By the end of the war forty mines were in full operation, employing nearly 3,000 miners.

Photo courtesy of the Cuyuna Iron Range Heritage Network

Mining operations slowed during the 1930s, and many mines closed. Spurred by the need for high-quality steel during World War II and the Korean War, demand for Cuyuna ore increased dramatically in the 1940s and into the 50s. Production was at its peak by 1953, at over 3 1/2 million tons of ore.

There was a decline in the Cuyuna mining industry during the 1960s, with most activity occurring in the taconite operations on the Vermilion and Mesabi Ranges. The last of Minnesota's underground mines, Armour #2 on the Cuyuna Range, closed in 1967. The last shipment of Cuyuna Range iron ore was in 1982.

Cuyler Adams, second from right, at the Adams Mine, southwest of Deerwood, 1911
Photo courtesy of the Cuyuna Iron Range Heritage Network

Open pit mining at the Portsmouth Mine, 1948.

Zoetrill Brothers Virgina Plan in 1953
Photos courtesy of the Cuyuna Iron Range Heritage Network

Erected by Crow Wing County.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars • War, World I • War, World II. A significant historical year for this entry is 1907.

Location. 46° 32.11′ N, 93° 58.338′ W. Marker is near Wolford, Minnesota, in Crow Wing County. It is in Milford Mine Memorial Park. It is on Milford Lake Drive. The marker is on a kiosk shelter near trail intersection 2. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Crosby MN 56441, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Minnesota’s Northland. It is also in the American Midwest,

in the Corn Belt,

and in the Great River Road Region.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Great North Woods,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Milford Mine (here, next to this marker); The Milford Mine Disaster (here, next to this marker); The Mine Shaft (a few steps from this marker); Mine Shaft Entrance (a few steps from this marker); Repair Shop (within shouting distance of this marker); Milford Miners (within shouting distance of this marker); Example of Timberwork Along the Main Shaft (within shouting distance of this marker); Exploratory Drill Hole (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Wolford.

Credits. This page was last revised on October 30, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 30, 2025, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. This page has been viewed 67 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on October 30, 2025, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. 2. submitted on October 19, 2025, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota.