300 South 5th Avenue
Virginia, MN, USA

National Register of Historic Places - St.Louis County District Courthouse

Statement of Significance:

Under National Register Criterion A, the St. Louis County District Courthouse in Virginia is significant in the area of Politics/Government because for over eighty years it has served as the center of county government on Minnesota's Iron Range. Constructed in 1910 and enlarged in 1921, the building represents a significant milestone in the development of local self-government in the state, as the steadily growing city of Virginia successfully lobbied for the creation of a separate judicial district within St. Louis County and the construction of a new courthouse in which judges, commissioners, clerks, supervisors, and others could administer a variety of essential services for Iron Range residents. The courthouse is also significant within the architectural context of Virginia as a good example of the Beaux Arts Classical style. Under the statewide preservation plan, the property relates to two historic contexts: Northern Minnesota Lumbering, l870-1930s, and Minnesota's Iron Ore Industry, I880s-1945.

Permanent settlement in northern St. Louis County began in the early I880s when confirmed rumors of the presence of paying quantities of iron ore incited a great rush to the area. Much of the economic development of the region during the nineteenth century relied upon mining, lumbering, or related activities.

Mining operations centered on three concentrations of iron ore, called "ranges," extending from east to west across northeastern Minnesota: The Vermilion, the Mesabi, and the Cuyuna. In 1884, the first load of ore was shipped from the Vermilion Range, followed in 1892 by a shipment from Mountain Iron on the more expansive Mesabi Range. Extending in a northeast-southwest direction for approximately 100 miles, the Mesabi Range was destined to become the nation's largest iron ore producer. Extraction of ore began on the Cuyuna Range in 1908, although the first shipment from the Kennedy Mine near Crosby was not until 1911.

The first ore discovered in what became known as the Virginia District was on the Missabe Mountain Mine in March 1892, from which 123,015 tons of ore were shipped in 1893. One year later, the output was over 500,000 tons and the Missabe Mountain Mine, along with the Mountain Iron Mine, was yielding a greater amount of ore than the other twelve mines on the Mesabi Range. An 1895 report about Minnesota's iron ore commented that the Virginia District "is by far the largest group on the range..." with valuable deposits located north, east, and south of the city. At least 21 other mines were opened around Virginia, most by the turn of the century

Unlike other Range towns, Virginia's economy was not entirely dependent upon mining. The lumber industry also provided employment for many workers. John Owens and Robert McGruer operated a small portable sawmill in Virginia when the town was initially founded in 1892. Later that same year, it was announced that the Finlayson Company of St. Paul had purchased 50 million board feet of timber in the Virginia area and planned to build a sawmill in town that would employ 100 men. W.T. Bailey hired 35 men after he built his mill in 1895. Although another fire in 1900 leveled the city, Virginia's lumber industry grew rapidly at the turn of the century in order to meet the demands from iron ore mining. In 1902, Plummer and Ash built an "immense sawmill" that later became part of the Virginia Lumber Company. Two years later the company constructed a planning mill that employed 100 men; in 1907, they added a lath mill and had on their payroll about 1,500 employees.

These mills became part of the Virginia and Rainy Lake Lumber Company, which was established in 1908 by Frederick Weyerhaeuser, Edward Hines, and other investors. Within a year of being founded, the plant, estimated to be worth $10 million, produced at least 300 million board feet of lumber per year. During peak production, 3,000 men worked all year in the woods to supply the mill with logs. The mill covered one square mile and contained seven band saws, three resaws, and six edgers, as well as an extensive railroad network (originally the Duluth, Virginia and Rainy Lake Railroad, later the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railroad) that reached from Duluth to the Canadian border. A wide assortment of buildings filled numerous functions, including the Manager's Residence (1910, NRHP) and the Office (ca.1907, NRHP). The company closed its operation in 1929."

Virginia was established as a direct result of both the mining and lumber industries. Located in the central Mesabi Iron Range, the community was founded in 1892 by a group of men who organized the Virginia Improvement Company to take advantage of the town's strategic location adjacent to the rapidly developing mining district. In November 1892, Virginia was officially recognized as a village, and one month later a branch of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railroad was linked to the community. Construction of the railroad encouraged rapid growth to the point that "every line of retail business was soon represented," according to one historian. Even though a small sawmill had been built, demand for lumber exceeded supply, resulting in shipments from outside the village. By 1893, Virginia reportedly had nearly 5,000 residents, and over fifteen mines in the. area producing ore. However, a disastrous fire on 18 June 1893 destroyed the village. Despite a loss in population after the fire, Virginia rebuilt immediately, became incorporated in 1895, and continued to be unsurpassed among Mesabi Range communities in the l890s. One turn-of-the century author described the city's progress in the following words: "Situated on a couple of small lakes at the foot of this ridge, where stood nothing but a dense and untracked forest in 1892, Virginia is the metropolis of the range."'” In 1895, it had a population of 3,64? people compared to 1,085 for Hibbing and 746 for Eveleth; by the turn of the century, the number had dropped to just below 3,000 (due in part to a second devastating fire, this one in 1900), but it remained the largest city in the region.

With the mining and lumber industries thriving in Virginia during the late I800s, the city gradually developed a reputation as the municipal leader in northern St. Louis County. In his 1921 description of Virginia, historian Walter Van Brunt remarked:

By reason of its geographical position fundamentally, but for other reasons also, the city of Virginia rightly is termed the "Queen City of the Mesabi Iron Range." She has since the 'nineties been the centre, the metropolis, of the range, one might say of the ranges, for she is recognized as the business metropolis of the Vermilion as well as the Mesabi range. Hibbing is becoming increasingly conspicuous, and is notably aggressive, but the general impression a stranger in Virginia gets of things municipal, social and civic is that Virginia is, and long has been, the established leader among the communities of the range territory.

As the city's economy grew stronger, its population increased to 10,473 residents by 1910. Virginia's infrastructure expanded as well, and by 1910 four railroads and a streetcar system served the city's transportation needs, and an array of buildings were under construction including the Federal Building, Canadian Northern Railroad Depot, a public library, two public schools, and an opera house.

The status gained as the "Queen City" was an important factor that contributed to the selection of Virginia in 1910 as the site for a judicial district. Another major reason was because of the difficulties encountered in traveling to the county seat at Duluth for court proceedings. One historian credits Lafayette Bliss, superintendent of Virginia's public schools and an outspoken advocate for improved court facilities on the range,' with securing the courthouse because:

He noted that all juvenile offenders had to be tried in the juvenile court at Duluth, and the contact that necessarily came between the erring juveniles and older, more hardened, offenders was, he thought, not conducive to improvement of normal conduct of the juveniles. He called a public meeting....and eventually brought action by the state legislature.

As early as 1904, a small frame buying on the edge of Virginia's business district functioned as a courthouse. In the summer of 1909, the county paid $800 per year to le^^e part of the second floor of the Virginia city hall for its district court. That fall the county auditor and commissioners visited Virginia to "investigate the necessity for a Court House for the Range Court," after which they passed a resolution to build a district courthouse "when a suitable state can be found and whenever the funds necessary therefore are available." At its 3 December 1909 meeting, the county board approved the preliminary plans prepared by architects Bray and Nystrom for a district court building and instructed the firm to provide complete drawings and specifications for a structure to cost not more than $75,000.