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Exploring the History of Hibbing

A comprehensive digital archive documenting the evolution and community milestones of Hibbing, Minnesota.

Explore Old North Hibbing & Its Mining Locations

Founded in 1893 as a logging camp, Hibbing transitioned into a major mining city. Between 1918 and 1954, the original North Hibbing townsite was physically relocated to extract iron ore from underneath it. By 1972, the final mining structures were demolished, leaving behind a park for disc golf and community use. The project recreates this vanished landscape through a comprehensive GIS map built from historical census data, old photographs, and maps.

On This Day

On This Day

The Man Behind the Camera

The 20th century witnessed Hibbing's transformation from a mining outpost into a vibrant community. This era was captured all by using a camera. In 1907, Paul Aubin arrived in Hibbing to work as an apprentice for photographer Carl Thiel. Eventually, in April of 1909, he purchased Jasper Dahl's Photography studio and started Aubins Photo Studio. From there, he documented many events up until closure in December of 2009. Today, almost all of his pictures belong to and have been scanned and digitized by the Hibbing Historical Society.

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