What is the industrial development that occurred in the Mesabi Range?
At the end of the 19th century, several forms of industrial development shaped Minnesota.  In 1882, a hydroelectric power plant was built at Saint Anthony Falls, marking one of the first developments of hydroelectric power in the United States.  Iron mining began in northern Minnesota with the opening of the Soudan Mine in 1884.  The Vermilion Range was surveyed and mapped by a party financed by Charlemagne Tower.  Another mining town, Ely began with the foundation of the Chandler Mine in 1888.  Soon after, the Mesabi Range was established when ore was found just under the surface of the ground in Mountain Iron.  The Mesabi Range ultimately had much more ore than the Vermilion Range, and it was easy to extract because the ore was closer to the surface.  As a result, open-pit mines became well-established on the Mesabi Range, with 111 mines operating by 1904.  To ship the iron ore to refineries, railroads such as the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway were built from the iron ranges to Two Harbors and Duluth on Lake Superior.  Large ore docks were used at these cities to load the iron ore onto ships for transport east on the Great Lakes.  The mining industry helped to propel Duluth from a small town to a large, thriving city.  In 1904, iron was discovered in the Cuyuna Range in Crow Wing County.  Between 1904 and 1984, when mining ceased, more than 106 million tons of ore were mined.  Iron from the Cuyuna Range also contained significant proportions of manganese, increasing its value.
open-pit mines