CHISHOLM, Minn. — The purpose of a museum is to collect, display, interpret and preserve items that have artistic, cultural or scientific significance.
Our drone series KARE in the Air recently visited the Minnesota Museum of Mining in Chisholm, a destination that certainly fits the bill.
Said to be the only collection of its type in the country, the Minnesota Museum of Mining tells the story of an industry that was essential to earning a living on the Iron Range. It tells that story with giant trucks, steam shovels, drills and trains used to transport iron ore.
The super cool thing is, you don't just look... visitors are encouraged to touch and climb on the big implements to get up close and personal.
There's even a replica underground mine visitors can experience, allowing them to walk in the shoes of the men and women who gathered iron ore that became steel used to construct buildings and forge weaponry used in global conflicts to protect America's freedom.
Even the front entrance gate is unusual, part of a castle hand built in 1933 from stone.
The iron mining industry began on the Range at the turn of the 20th century, and at one time there were more than 100 mining pit operations in the area.
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