The Hull-Rust-Mahoning Pit and The Town That Moved

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The Hull-Rust-Mahoning pit and the town that moved is a Minnesota story with a documented core at Hull Rust Mahoning Mine View, Hibbing, St. Louis County. The sources are named below.

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Iron Range and VoyageursRegion
Nov 1Checked, 2026

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The Hull-Rust-Mahoning Pit and The Town That Moved

People call it the Grand Canyon of the North, a pit so big it swallowed part of a town. Hibbing's north side sat on top of the ore, so in 1918 houses and stores were lifted onto steel wheels and rolled about two miles south. Some big buildings were cut in half to go. Today you can look down into the pit from the viewing area on the edge of town.

What The Record Shows

The City of Hibbing's history page says the Mahoning Mine was the region's first open-pit mine. The area's first mining lease went to Frank Hibbing in 1891, with first ore shipments in 1895. The city page gives both 1892 and 1896 as starts for mining, so the start date is a range. It says the pit covers over 50 mines and 40+ properties, and that more than 800 million tons of ore have been removed since 1895. At its 1940s peak the mine supplied up to a quarter of U.S. ore. The page also gives two sets of pit dimensions (3.5 by 1.5 miles and 535 feet deep, or up to 8 by 3.5 miles), so we do not quote one. Starting in 1918, buildings in north Hibbing were moved about two miles south over two years, at a cost of $16 million: 185 houses and 20 businesses, and six blocks of Old North Hibbing became part of the mine.

Sources: Historical (City of Hibbing).

A Note

Pit size figures differ between sources. Not confirmed: the date the pit was named a National Historic Landmark.

Its home: City of Hibbing historical page (Hull Rust Mahoning Mine). Official page.

On this site: Historic Sites, National Historic Landmarks, Iron Range and Voyageurs Events.

Looked for and Not Found

The pit's size on a federal or state page we could read

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is the story of The Hull-Rust-Mahoning pit and the town that moved true?

The City of Hibbing's history page says the Mahoning Mine was the region's first open-pit mine.

Is this a legend?

It is a story with a documented core. The facts are listed on this page with their sources.

Where do these facts come from?

From the named sources listed on this page: Historical (City of Hibbing).

Sources

Historical (City of Hibbing)

Read on November 1, 2026. Stories are for fun; the facts come from these sources. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? tell us.

Cite this page: It's Minnesota, “The Hull-Rust-Mahoning Pit and The Town That Moved”, itsminnesota.com/legends/hull-rust-mahoning-mine/ (updated 2026-11-01). By the It's Minnesota editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.

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