PLEASE NOTE

We have started meeting regularly and are working on increasing public events. Because of the size of our organization, we are not well suited to in-depth research questions, so although you may contact us, we also suggest contacting the Iron Range Research Center or the Iron Range Historical Society. 
 Explore Eveleth's fascinating history with us!
The Eveleth Heritage Society created this new website to share the fascinating history of our beloved community. We hope you enjoy the stories and photos.  Click here  to learn more about our organization and how you can help us preserve and share Eveleth history. Please check back soon, as we try to continuously add more pictures and information. ​

Introduction to Eveleth

​​Eveleth  began with log cabins in a mining camp built in 1892. The village was platted in April 1893, and the first elections were held the following year. As Eveleth grew, the village built sidewalks, schools, a water works, an electric light system, businesses, and homes. To accommodate mining activity, nearly all of the buildings in town were moved up the hill at the turn of the 20th century.

Eveleth was incorporated as a city in 1902 and continued to grow, eventually reaching a peak population of 7,484 in 1930. At one time, seven school buildings, three movie theaters, three banks, ten churches, two railroads, two newspapers, two hospitals, and numerous restaurants, stores, and other businesses all served the city concurrently. Dozens of ethnic groups have made Eveleth their home in the past 125 years.

Eveleth has always been known for great hockey players and became home to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973. The world's largest hockey stick is located downtown, and the Eveleth Hippodrome is a landmark arena in Minnesota.

The Thunderbird Mine opened in 1965 and is still the largest employer in town. U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash south of Eveleth in 2002, and the 2005 film North Country, inspired the Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co.  court case, was partially filmed here.

Newspaper Digitization Project

The Eveleth Heritage Society is partnering with the Eveleth Area Community Foundation and the Minnesota Historical Society to digitize Eveleth newspapers for  free public access. Newspapers are an invaluable research tool, and digitization helps preserve the information and makes it accessible to anyone with internet access.  Newspapers are currently digitized up to 1964 with some years yet to be completed. Please consider making a donation to support this project!