Mining History 1888-1967 and a few local stories by Iron Mike Hillman

Iron Mike Hillman is active this cold winter, maybe a record cold winter for Ely, with writing, acting, reading his stories at local venues and recently giving a slide show at VCC talking about iron mining and logging between 1888 and 1967. The receptive crowds have asked for a repeat of his story telling and […]

Response to Tom Rukavina Letter Two; 7 March 2012

I see no reason why I can’t just stick with my opening statement that after a hundred years of open pit iron mining near cities like Virginia and Eveleth they are like two islands of humanity in a sea of mining dumps and pits. When I mentioned that all people had to do was take […]

Pagami Creek Fire in the BWCA near entry points on Lake One is now 30% contained – Sept. 21, 2011

Pagami Creek Fire had Ely Residents and Visitors Concerned about Fire

The Pagami Creek Fires had burned for over three weeks, and the small fire burning near Lake Two was not deemed much of a threat. The Pagami Creek Fire was of such a small nature, that the Forest Service decided to help […]

Memorial Day Address 2011

Memorial Day Address 2011; first delivered in 2008 to Ely Veterans and American Legion at Vermilion Community College

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, They mark our place; and in the sky The larks; still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below We are the Dead. Short […]

Soudan Mine Fire Update

Soudan Mine near Ely MN

On March 17th a fire broke out in the main shaft of the Soudan Mine about two thousand feet down. There had been repair work being done in the shaft earlier that day and sparks from the welding work being done above fell down the shaft, and some of […]

Ely, A Two Fisted Hard Drinking Town

Ely, A Two Fisted Hard Drinking Town, by Mike Hillman

The first mention of Ely and drinking that I could find went back to the late 1800’s when a St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter asked the nationally known evangelist Billy Sunday the reason why he spent so many summers battling Old Scratch in the small […]

150th Anniversary of our Civil War

April 2011 150th Anniversary of our Civil War by Mike Hillman

This week marked the 150th Anniversary when the forces from the Confederate States of America fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. It was the beginning of our most sanguinary conflict in our nation’s history, and The American Civil War cost the lives of […]

“You’re listening to?”

“You’re listening to?”

In days past, WELY was a radio station where many had the opportunity to offer their talents, music and personal time through volunteering. Dozens of on-air personalities past, no longer given the opportunity, left us a piece of themselves for all ages and interests to enjoy, even participate, and the range of […]

Ely Community Center Building

The Ely Community Center is one of those places that help make Ely the place it is. It is a fine old building that is worth investing in. It was built back in 1938 when New Deal money from Franklin Roosevelt allowed the city to tear down the old Central School Building and replace it […]

Future of the BWCA(W)

FW: Public Law 95-495: The Future of the BWCA(W)

To all that love the Quetico-Superior:

With the recent death of F W (Bill) Hubachek (Wilderness Research Foundation, Ely MN) in Chicago, another historically significant figure passes into memory only. Just as his father and his friends like Earnest Oberholtzer, Sigrud Olson, Frederick Winston and Charles […]