Same letters, new words
In June of 1998 I covered Legion baseball games for the Hibbing Daily Tribune. One hot summer night some kid threw a no hitter. The kid was my age but I pretended to be a grownup to interview him. Afterward, I typed up the story in the newsroom. All of a sudden Christina Hiatt, one… Read More →
125 years of iron ore from Hibbing’s Mahoning mine
At sunrise on Friday, July 3 workers raised a 44-star American flag at the edge of the the Hull Rust Mahoning Pit in Hibbing. The historic flag commemorated the day in 1895 when the first shovel lifted iron ore from the Mahoning Pit. “That open pit of course started with a single scoop of ore… Read More →
The haunting truth of human nature
For the past couple years I’ve been reading old Hibbing newspapers for my book. I find that reading every paper from every year is exhausting but still the best way to research. This method provides context about everything going on in the community, including the national and international news that shaped people’s attitudes. So I’ve… Read More →
Hear preview of ‘Power in the Wilderness’ on June 14
For almost four years I’ve been writing a book about the late Hibbing Mayor Victor Power and some really wild stories from early Iron Range history. It’s not done yet but it’s getting there. I can give you some exciting news, though. Along the path of my research I got to know a New York… Read More →
IRRR commissioner OKs contested water tower project in Brookston
On Thursday afternoon Commissioner Mark Phillips of the Minnesota Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation announced the approval of a contested $250,000 grant for a water tower in Brookston. The decision concludes a growing controversy over the project’s exclusion from a collection of public works projects funded by the unique state agency. The small… Read More →
This just in
125 years of iron ore from Hibbing’s Mahoning mine
At sunrise on Friday, July 3 workers raised a 44-star American flag at the edge of the the Hull Rust Mahoning Pit in Hibbing. The historic flag commemorated the day in 1895 when the first shovel lifted iron ore from the Mahoning Pit. “That open pit of course started with a single scoop of ore… Read More →
MinnesotaBrown.com is an independent website by author and journalist Aaron J. Brown. It covers Northern Minnesota news, culture and politics with an authentic back woods voice and award-winning experience.
Subscribe via e-mail:
Like the blog on Facebook or follow Aaron Brown on Twitter. My e-mail list will never be sold. I only send e-mail when I post new content, and will never send more than one e-mail per day.
POWER: A new book project about Victor Power by Aaron J. Brown
Victor Power
For a time, Victor Power was the most powerful small town mayor in the United States. Nevertheless, his short yet extraordinary life fighting the steel trusts from his office in Hibbing slowly slips into obscurity. Aaron J. Brown is working on a book about Victor Power and his early 20th Century world, which stretched far beyond a little boom town in the forests of Northern Minnesota, from the ganglands of Chicago to the ivory towers of New York. Contact Aaron with any Hibbing-area stories from 1900 to 1926 even remotely related to Victor Power or his family, labor unions, the Oliver Mining Company, Al Capone, bootleggers, politicians or any first-hand material about what life in Hibbing was like then. This may be the last chance for many longstanding family legends to become part of permanent history.
