The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-11-30
.THE RICHEST VILLAGE
IN THE WORLD IN MINI.
DISTINCTION LONG ENJOYED BY
HleBINe-oWNED BY MIN
ING COMPANIES.

Franklin, Mimi. a Mesaba range
q village with a population of SO7, has
fallen heir to the title long held by
another northern Minnesota commun-
jtv and, although it has no civic or
ganizations to advance it's claims
makes the boast, nevertheless of be-
ing the richest village in the world. -
saws Chas. H. Webb in Dearborn In
dependent
The richest village has not a bust
ness district and. with the exception
of village hall and the school build
4 ing, has not a single public edfice to
crown its glory It's sole industry is
iron mining, but the per capital tax
able value of the real and personal
property in the village is S29,247, or
more than four times that of Hibbing
formerly "the richest village" which
is S5626. The mining companies which
are almost the sole taxpayers have no
complaint as to the way the money is
spent in Franklin. In 1921 it cost
Franklin $763.S5 per capita for govern
mental purposes, or 25 times the gov
eminent per capita cost for St. Paul.
The village government was eco
nomically administered the tax com
mission finds, despite the fact that the
1921 government cost per family was
$4,000.
Another village in Minnesota, bear
ing the name of Franklin, spent one
thirtieth per capita what it cost its
namesalSe in ST. Louis county in 1921
The less prosperous Franklin is in
Renville county.
Per Capita Value Compared.
The per capita taxable value of
Franklin, st. Louis county, is s29.247|
as compared to s6S7 for Minneapolis.
s64S for st. Paul, and SIPS for Duluth.
Much of the mining property is owned
by the state and is under lease to the
mining companies. Franklin is what
is commonly termed "a mining com
pany town" It adjoins the city limits
of Virginia, having a population of
1902, and gets its mail from that CITY.
having no postoffice of its own.
Hibbing, farther west on the Me
saba range, has a population some
what larger than Virginia, according
to the last census. Through its liber-
al expenditure of public moneys for
various improvements and utilities.
Hibbing has received a considerable
amount of publicity during the past
few years. This publicity was invar-
iably accompanied by the slogan. 1.-THE |
Richest Village in the World" Re
Gently Hibbing was moved bodily by
the Oliver Iron Mining company. to
carry on mining operations where the /
town stood, and the new village was
laid out on a scale even more elabor- /
ate than before with handsome bust
ness houses, well paved and well light !
ed streets, a park system, a million |
dollar high school and the finest hotel /
in Minnesota outside the Twin Cities /
But, at almost the same moment, it /
acquires this new nfagnificence Hib-
bling loses its title of the richest viii |
lage" to a community of mine location
houses, which does not even boast a |
postoffice
Mining Companies Interested.
Scarcely a greater contrast between
towns can be seen anywhere than be-
tween Hibbing and Franklin. Frank
lin consists of miners homes huge
open pits where iron ore is scooped up
in 5-ton mouthfuls by steam shovels
as if it were sand and the skeleton
like head frames of underground (
mines.
The mining companies operating in
the village are The Oliver Iron Min
ing company an operating branch of
the United States Steel corporation,
the Inter State Iron company, Corri-
gan Mckinney & Co, Coates & Tweed
and the Republic Iron e Steel com
pany, included in the recently an
nounced merger with Midvale and In
land Steel company. Most of the
mine operation is by the open pit
method. the ere being dug from huge (
excavations by steam and electric
shovels. The largest of these open
pits is that of the Oliver Iron Mining
company.
History of Franklin.
The mining history of Franklin is
intensely interesting and epitomizes
much of the industrial history of the
Lake Superior region.
1t is said that a break between John
d. Rockefeller and his brother. Frank
lin, followed a dispute over the Frank
lin mine, which was named after
Rockefeller and which, in turn gave
its name to the village.
The old Franklin mine, which ceased
operations some three years ago, be-
gan producing ore in 1892 under the
management of Franklin Rockefeller
Rockefeller had embarked in the ore
business with James Corrigan of
Cleveland They had purchased the
Franklin, had put 100000 into a fleet
of lake boats and had gone on a hunt
for other iron ore properties.
In the early COS the iron business
= !