Moving Hibbing

Title: Mine Pit Near Hibbing
Type: Photograph
Date: 1900
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: This is a photograph of a mining pit on the edge of Hibbing.

Activities:

1. What kinds of buildings are off to the right side of this picture?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The buildings to the right look like people's homes. They are shaped like typical houses.
2. What evidence in the photo tells you that the equipment isn't being used for construction?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The railroad tracks and ore cars plus the large amount of digging that has happened make it clear that this is a mining operation and not a construction site.
3. How do you suppose the buildings on the right came to be so close to the edge of this pit?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The homes were probably built before the pit was expanded. As the pit grew larger, it extended closer and closer to the houses.
4. What would it be like to live in one of the buildings to the right?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: There would certainly be a lot of noise from the mining operations. You would also have to endure any smells that went along with mining, such as exhaust from machinery, and blasts from dynamite, which shook the house.