The Story of Abandoned Taconite Harbor, Minnesota Is Truly Fascinating

As a decades-long resident of the Land of 10,000 Lakes, I've visited many of our state's most fascinating places - most of the state parks, a lot of hidden gems, and dozens of small towns. But one place that's held my attention for a long time - at least 30 years or so - is Taconite Harbor on the North Shore of Lake Superior. There are a few things that draw me to it, the first of which, of course, is its location. It occupies a rugged chunk of shoreline along the Big Lake, where the Two Island River flows into it, and if you look in away from the massive, shuttered taconite facility, it's quite lovely. Another is my longtime fascination with Lake Superior's maritime tradition, which goes hand-in-hand, for better or worse, with Minnesota's long history of mining. The story of Taconite Harbor, Minnesota, lies at the intersection of all three of these interests, so even though there's not much there, I keep going back to have a look around.

You'll find the ghost town - more like ghost streets - of Taconite Harbor just off of Highway 61 and southwest of Schroeder. The hulk of the massive iron ore processing facility still dominates the shoreline, but the port that was once used by lakeboats to pick up loads of taconite pellets is now home to a safe harbor for small vessels and an interpretive site.

The interpretive site covers the history of the harbor, itself, as well as its namesake community and offers some artifacts from the operation - a massive wheel, a shovel, anchors, a capstan, and a massive chunk of taconite - that you can examine and climb around on.

Taconite Harbor was part of a closed-ended operation initiated by Erie Mining in the 1950s. In 1952, the company started developing the town of Hoyt Lakes on the Iron Range, near its mining operation, and a year later, Erie Mining began building an ore processing plant at Hoyt Lakes and building its facility at Taconite Harbor. Erie Mining's proprietary rail line connected the two facilities. In 1955, Hoyt Lakes incorporated, and in 1957, Taconite Harbor came online and sent out its first shipment of iron ore. That same year, construction was completed on 24 three and four-bedroom houses at Taconite Harbor. There were also a school, a city hall, and a fire station. In 1986, Erie Mining was absorbed by LTV Steel, and residents of Taconite Harbor were, essentially, evicted. The last house was removed from Taconite Harbor in 1990, and the last shipment of taconite left the facility in 2001 - the same year the port closed down for good.

Today, all that's left of the community of Taconite Harbor is crumbling streets and decaying light posts that are all returning to nature. For a long time, a basketball backboard remained at the site, lending it a hint of humanity, but I did not see it the last time I visited.

The best resource for learning more about Taconite Harbor is the Cross River Heritage Center in nearby Schroeder. This sweet little museum has an entire room dedicated to Taconite Harbor's history - plus it's right next to the beautiful Cross River Falls. If you'd like to stay and explore the area, camping is available at Temperance River State Park, just minutes from Schroeder, and for a less rustic stay, Superior Ridge Resort Motel is right in town.

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