Hibbing, Minnesota | |
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City | |
Street in Hibbing, Minnesota in August 2007
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Motto: We're Ore And More. | |
Location of the city of Hibbing within Saint Louis County, Minnesota |
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Coordinates: 47°25′2″N 92°56′18″W / 47.41722°N 92.93833°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Minnesota |
County | Saint Louis |
Government | |
• Mayor | Rick Cannata |
Area | |
• Total | 186.43 sq mi (482.85 km2) |
• Land | 181.83 sq mi (470.94 km2) |
• Water | 4.60 sq mi (11.91 km2) |
Elevation | 1,493 ft (455 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 16,361 |
• Estimate (2015) | 16,204 |
• Density | 90.0/sq mi (34.7/km2) |
Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
• Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
ZIP codes | 55746 |
Area code(s) | 218 |
FIPS code | 27-28790 |
GNIS feature ID | 0661469 |
Website | City of Hibbing |
Hibbing is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 16,361 at the 2010 census. The city was built on the rich iron ore of the Mesabi Iron Range. At the edge of town is the largest open-pit iron mine in the world, the Hull–Rust–Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine.U.S. Highway 169, State Highway 37, State Highway 73, Howard Street, and 1st Avenue are five of the main routes in Hibbing. The Range Regional Airport offers daily commercial flights between Hibbing and Minneapolis, as well as hosting many private pilots and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fire fighting aircraft.
The town was founded in 1893 by Frank Hibbing, born in Hannover, Germany on December 1, 1856, and christened Franz Dietrich von Ahlen. His mother died when he was still in infancy and it was her name, Hibbing, which he assumed when he set out to seek his fortune in the New World. He first settled in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where he worked on a farm and in a shingle mill. Injured in a mill accident, he considered becoming a lawyer, but after deciding he was not familiar enough with the English language to make a legal career possible, he turned to timber cruising.
In 1887, Mr. Hibbing settled in Duluth where he established a real estate business and began explorations on the Vermilion Range. In 1892, he headed a party of thirty men at Mountain Iron and cut a road through the wilderness to Section 22, 58–20. An expert iron ore prospector, he soon discovered the surface indication which led him to believe in the existence of extensive ore deposits.
In July 1893, the townsite of Hibbing was laid out and named in honor of him. Feeling personally responsible, he took the deepest pride in its development and, by his generous aid, made its progress possible. He used his personal means to provide a water plant, electric light plant, the first roads, hotel, sawmill, and bank building. For the last ten years of his life, Mr. Hibbing made his home in Duluth, where many of his business interests were centered. He retained close contact with the community which bore his name, until he died of appendicitis on July 30, 1897, at age forty.