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History · Taconite

Taconite’s post office opened in 1906, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

1906first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1famous people
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Quick answers

How Taconite began

When was Taconite founded?

1906

The Taconite post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1907.

2020 census: 651120 years
Founding year: the first Taconite post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1907.The full story ↓

What stands out about Taconite’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Taconite are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Taconite’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Taconite’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Taconite came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Taconite.

Read it all →

Taconite was established in 1907 and is one of several whistlestop cities located on Highway 169 collectively known as 'Range Cities'. These cities were branded as such when they sprang up in parallel with the nearby iron mining operations that began in Coleraine and headed in a northeasterly direction. The mines and cities comprise part of what is known as Minnesota's Iron Range, specifically the Mesabi Range.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Taconite’s post office has been open since 1906.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Holman
Gone or out of use
Arcturus MinemineBingham MinemineBrown MinemineHolman Cliffs MinemineNorth Star MinemineTaconitelocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Coleraine6 historic placesB−Lawrence TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBovey1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreenway Township2 historic placesA−Trout Lake Township1 historic placeBArbo TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMarble2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Taconite’s history

What year was Taconite founded?

The Taconite post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1907.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.