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Iron Miner Statue.
Iron Man gazes down on region rich in mining history.

Huge Iron Man Statue

Field review by the editors.

Chisholm, Minnesota

In the heart of Minnesota's Mesabi Range mining country, a gargantuan likeness of an 1880s miner balances on a spherical framework of rusted corten steel.

Titled "The Emergence of Man Through Steel," the sculpture was designed by artist Jack E. Anderson -- who had also sculpted the large Shrine of the Snowshoe Priest -- and dedicated on July 4, 1987. The whole structure is 86 feet high, claimed to be the third largest free-standing memorial in the United States.

The 36-foot-tall brass and copper iron miner is a tribute to the "Iron Men" of yore, when metal mining boomed in the region.

If this gleaming, brass-colored miner had been waving his shovel, he'd be taller than Birmingham's Vulcan the Iron Man! From a spectacle perspective, the immense load of steel beneath him makes the miner appear... a little dinky. Yet he is huge! There was supposed to be a staircase to let one pose beneath his feet, but an iron industry recession in the 1980s dried up funding and nixed those plans.

Iron Man.

Cross-eyed, the miner stares down at the McDonald's strategically located across the street.

A plaque near the Iron Man's base says the statue is "a tribute to the Mesabi, Vermilion, Cuyuna and Gogebic Ranges' men of steel, who carved out of a sylvan wilderness the iron ore that made America the industrial giant of the world. They shall live forever!"

Huge Iron Man Statue

Address:
Iron Drive, Chisholm, MN
Directions:
On the west side of Chisolm, on the north side of US Hwy 169, just east of its intersection with Hwy 73.
RA Rates:
Major Fun
Save to My Sights

Nearby Offbeat Places

Paul Bunyan's MarblePaul Bunyan's Marble, Chisholm, MN - < 1 mi.
Hull Rust Mahoning MineviewHull Rust Mahoning Mineview, Hibbing, MN - 3 mi.
Greyhound Bus MuseumGreyhound Bus Museum, Hibbing, MN - 4 mi.
In the region:
Big Bluegill Fish Statue, Orr, MN - 40 mi.

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