City Pages reports on Iron Range past, present

I'm not sure what drew them to us, but City Pages -- the Twin Cities' alt weekly -- profiles a snippet of Iron Range history and provides a surprisingly detailed look at new nonferrous mineral mining technology on the East Range in this week's web edition. The history portion in particular puts a bit of a perspective on our early years here on the Range. I review how this history manifests in present times in my upcoming book "Overburden: Modern Life on the Iron Range." (October 2008, Red Step Press). Now that I have my semi-random plug in for the day, back to work ...

Highway 63 Revisited

They say the Iron Range is entering a modern age, a time of renaissance and progress and probably even fancier words that will be invented when the new noun factory opens just outside Buhl. I have seen proof that this is true but it has nothing to do with our impending new steel plant or nonferrous minerals. We’ve seen economic booms before, followed by busts and more booms. No, the proof of the modern age may be found on the highway from Hibbing to the locations.

~Excerpt from "Highway 63 Revisited," my weekly column for Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007. Read it at my website or in the Hibbing Daily Tribune. It will be archived at this location.