Ely ( EE-lee) is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,268 at the 2020 census. Located on the Vermilion iron range, Ely once had several iron ore mines. It is an entry point for campers and canoers into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Canada's Quetico Provincial Park wilderness area. The International Wolf Center and the North American Bear Center are nearby. Ely's main street has nature outfitters, outdoor clothing stores, and restaurants. MN 1, MN 169, and County Road 21 (Central Avenue) are Ely's main routes. The city is 16 mi (26 km) south of the Canadian border and is within the Superior National Forest.
History
The first Europeans to explore the area were fur traders who made their way into the wilderness in search of furs. But it was the Lake Vermillion gold rush that brought the first large numbers of pioneers to the area in 1865. Although hardly any gold was ever found, it was discovered that the area did contain large deposits of iron ore. Thousands of new immigrants were arriving in America at that time, and many of them came to the area later known as the Minnesota Iron Range, looking for work. When the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway laid tracks extending the rails from Tower to Ely in 1888, Ely began mining operations with the opening of the Chandler Mine. Ore was shipped by rail to docks on Lake Superior in Two Harbors and Duluth. From there it was shipped by lake freighter for processing in Ashtabula and other points in Ohio. That year the miners incorporated the town of Florence, population 177, near the east side of Shagawa Lake on a site now known as Spaulding. Florence was named after the daughter of the Chandler mine's Captain Jack Pengilly (also the town's first mayor). After ore was discovered farther west, the town relocated and subsequently changed its name to Ely. Since the name "Florence" was already in use by another village in Minnesota, "Ely" was chosen to honor of mining executive Samuel B. Ely, a big promoter of Vermilion Range ore who lived in Michigan. (He is not known to have visited his namesake town.) In 2020, The Ely Echo wrote:
The name Ely stems from the "Isle of Eels," a wetlands near Cambridge, England. In historic times, those lakes swarmed with the slithery fish (similar to eelpout) that provided sustenance for ancestors of Samuel B. Ely. His clan arrived in the states (from Ely, England) in the 1600s (one ancestor was a close associate of George Washington). Samuel, a mining executive, financed the railroad to Ely in 1888 which launched our town. He embraced Ojibwe culture and applied native names to some of his mining projects, including Ontonagon (hunting river) & Ishpeming (heaven), Michigan. Samuel's great grandson, Courtland Ely III, was Grand Marshal at Ely's 1988 Centennial Parade, stayed with Schurkes at Wintergreen & was given keys to the city by Gov. Rudy Perpich (an Iron Ranger from Hibbing). The original town site consisted of 40 acres. A man named McCormick opened the first grocery store in a small log building. A. J. Fenske built the first frame building in the fall of 1887; and he also opened a hardware and furniture store. The Pioneer Hotel was also built that year at the corner of Sheridan Street and Fourth Avenue. The first school opened in 1889 in a small frame building on Second Avenue; its enrollment was 112 during the first season. According to a history written in 1910, "The first religious service was conducted by Father Buh, who came from Tower for that purpose, and the Catholic congregation erected the first church. The first Protestant minister was Rev. Mr. Freeman, who arrived in time to hold an Easter service in 1889, and located here permanently, organizing the Presbyterian church. There are now six churches, representing as many different faiths. Soon other mines opened in Ely: The Pioneer Mine (1889), the Zenith (1892), the Savoy (1899), and the Sibley (1899). The Pioneer was by far the most productive, producing 41 million tons or 40% of the Vermilion Range's entire output. Eventually 11 mines opened near Ely. In 1967 the Pioneer mine closed. It is on the National Register of Historic Places and its offices house the Ely Arts & Heritage Center. Originally the mining was an open-pit operation, but when the abundant ore was mined out, deep shafts were made to start mining underground. With the need for wooden support beams to keep the tunnels from collapsing and for lumber to meet the needs of the ever-expanding growth in the area, the logging and milling industries grew. Logging continues in the region, though on a limited scale and only for paper pulp—the major operations virtually disappeared by 1920 when the area's tree reserves were depleted. Ely would not suffer the decline of other mining towns, as the nearby Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness would bring tourists and campers to the city, supplying the city with an annual summertime economic boost. In 2021, the Boundary Waters were closed for two weeks due to wildfires, however the city was able to quickly economically recover. In 2026, the city would be impacted by the nearby 2026 Minnesota wildfires.
Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 2.74 square miles (7.10 km2); 2.73 square miles (7.07 km2) is land and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km2) is water. Ely is 100 miles (160 km) north of Duluth, 117 miles southeast of International Falls, and 244 miles (393 km) north of the Twin Cities.
Environment
Copper mining controversy
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