See film of President Calvin Coolidge in Hibbing

President Calvin Coolidge views the Hull Rust mine pit in Hibbing, Minnesota, in 1928.

The Mitchell Yards Project has put together a truly wonderful step back in time. I first saw this on Perfect Duluth Day. I’m not above link-jacking about a topic so close to my wheelhouse.

Below is film footage of President Calvin Coolidge’s famous 1928 visit to Hibbing. We see the famously concise Republican president touring Hibbing and overlooking the active Hull Rust mine at the north side of town, an experience you can still have today.

You also see what Hibbing looked like in 1928 after the town had begun the arduous process of moving five miles south to accommodate the Oliver Mining Company. Hibbing High School was brand new, and still the most expensive public high school facility in the United States.

Coolidge’s Republicans would have been the dominant political party in Hibbing at the time, though encroaching strength from the Farmer-Labor Party made every election interesting. It was truly boom times all over the Range. The rate of expansion of Range communities, including the quality of public amenities, was truly staggering by standards of that time — arguably even more so by modern standards.

You can see the Mitchell Yards project video below, which begins with the Coolidge film and ends with aerial footage of what the places look like today.

President Coolidge visits Hibbing in 1928 from Mitchell Yards on Vimeo.

President Coolidge is one of only two sitting presidents to visit Hibbing. The other was President Harry Truman campaigning for Adlai Stephenson in 1952. John F. Kennedy campaigned here before he was elected in 1960.

I wrote a piece “Silent Cal at the Hull Rust Mine” that talks about this same event, but includes other details about the times. That post prompted a follow-up after discussion from area historians and political watchers.