Pioneer Mine Buildings and A Headframe – Ely, MN
N 47° 54.707 W 091° 51.698
15T E 585061 N 5307122
The Pioneer Mine Buildings and A Headframe was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is documented as # 78003127.
Waymark Code: WMBJZM
Location: Minnesota, United States
Date Posted: 05/28/2011
Views: 3
The Pioneer Iron Mine was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is documented as # 78003127. It is also known as “Pioneer Headframe,” and the historical significance is “event, architecture/engineering. The builder is unknown but the period of significance is listed as 1925-1949, 1900-1924. It is now owned locally and is no longer in use. Its historic function was industry/processing/extracting with a sub-function of extractive facility.
The Pioneer Mine was a major employer in Ely from 1888 to 1967; the water tower and the A shaft headframe still provide a landmark visible from many places in town. Two historical markers tell about its history:
“The Pioneer Vermilion Iron Mining Company opened the Pioneer Mine in 1888 and began shipping ore the following year. When Oliver Iron Mining Company leased the Pioneer in 1898, it was producing over 500,000 tons annually. Eventually, it was considered the richest of Minnesota’s underground mines. It closed in 1967, not because the ore body was exhausted, but because underground mining was so labor-intensive. With a 100-man workforce, open pit mines produced about 5,000,000 tons of ore annually. The underground Pioneer operations employed approximately 600 miners to produce 1,000,000 tons annually.
“Working conditions were extremely hazardous. There was constant danger that water would soak the ground above, break through and run into the mine, sometimes to a depth of 200 feet, killing all those not fast enough to escape. Cave-ins, mud-slides, and premature dynamite blasts also caused injuries or fatalities.
“Remaining mine structures reflect the Pioneer Mine’s “glory days.” They include the captains’ and miners’ dries where employees changed from work clothes and showered; the shaft house which provided weather protection; the stack, built in 1902 to create a draft for boilers powering early steam hoists; the 1927 engine house, powering later electric hoists, the steel head frame, and a water tower.”
Street address:
Pioneer Road
Ely, MN USA
55731
County / Borough / Parish: St. Louis
Year listed: 1978
Historic (Areas of) Significance: event, architecture/engineering
Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924.
Historic function: industry/processing/extracting
Current function: Vacant/not in use
Privately owned?: yes
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Hours of operation: Not listed
Secondary Website 1: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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