10/09/2026
Local History Should Be Shared – Join Us!
by Bill TefftAfter reading Images of America: Ely and Winton, thoughts flowed back in time through those two towns and beyond. The book shared stories across a few generations in those communities, along with enough of the surrounding region to spark connections across “The Arrowhead.” Those who have family histories on the Vermilion Range carry stories and knowledge that add and connect and can feed more into this taste of the area’s richness. And those who have physically or virtually visited this region over the years may want to explore and share the depths of human history and how that presence has engaged and evolved with this landscape.With 50 years of history living in Ely, including years guiding in Soudan at the mine and 33 years teaching at Vermilion Community College, I’ve learned to be a sponge, always wanting to know more. Ely-Winton Historical Society, with Reed Petersen as the author, created and published this book. Along with other local historical groups across the Arrowhead and St. Louis County Historical Society, local history is valued, collected, and shared with anyone who wants to learn more.Indigenous cultures lived on the land before Minnesota became a state and this country established its boundaries. This region was known for its resources and attracted fur traders who harvested and sold them. Other resources were sought, and settlements developed like a wave as the United States explored and built on its claims to land and resources.Mining ore, logging timber, hunting, and fishing led to land claims, homesteads, and towns and cities established within state and county jurisdictions. On the Vermilion Range, the Soudan Iron Mine led to the development of Tower, first with the arrival of railroads and then roads, with automobiles coming later.Railroads proceeded east to Ely iron mines and then on to Winton for timber harvesting, sawmills, further mining development, businesses, and communities. Indigenous, immigrants and growing populations served and attracted into cultures drawn from people of various backgrounds and their connections to these northern forests, lakes, wetlands and small towns.The Ely-Winton Historical Society has scheduled its annual meeting Oct. 22 at Grand Ely Lodge on Shagawa Lake across from the headframe and buildings on the site of the former Pioneer Mine in Ely. Hopefully, historical society members and people from across the Vermilion Range and beyond will attend to hear Reed’s presentation of his experience researching and writing this book about a town he grew up in. Register to ensure that you are accommodated. Bring your interest in supporting the Ely-Winton Historical Society and other efforts to preserve, contribute, learn, and understand this area’s rich history.Like a forest of trees or a watershed of rivers and lakes, human history here has grown out like roots and roads to and from places: Soudan, Tower, Ely, Winton, Bois Forte, International Falls, Isabella, Section 30, Babbitt, Forest Center, Eagles Nest Lakes, Embarrass, Lake Vermilion, White Iron Chain, Morris Township, Fall Lake Township and more. This book and others are like the seeds that, story after story, connect people, places, events, and landmarks that can be learned from to not repeat or recreate the past but build a better future.Let’s celebrate our location at the heart and center of the continent, with watersheds leading out in all directions from here. From a rural population of inhabitants fed by well-recognized values and strong, supportive cultures, people of varied backgrounds can band together as a model of environmental resiliency.
