Вирджиния, Миннесота: История и современность города горняков.

City in Minnesota, United States
the film

Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States, on the Mesabi Iron Range. With an economy heavily reliant on large scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Range's commercial center. The population was 8,423 people at the 2020 census. Virginia is a part of the Duluth metropolitan area, and U. S. Highway 53 runs through town.

Virginia was founded by Hon. O. D. Kinney (Orrin Day Kinney; b. 1845; d. 1911) the original owner of the town site, which was laid out in 1892 and named after Virginia, the native state of a large share of the lumbermen in the area at the time. A post office has been in operation at Virginia since 1893. Virginia was incorporated in February 1895. It was a logging community first, then developed as an iron mining community. The Virginia area mines were prosperous and setting new records consistently by the late 1890s. The main population boom began after mining camps were built for entrepreneurs and financiers including Andrew Carnegie, Leonidas Merritt, Jay Cooke, John D. Rockefeller, William J. Olcott, and James J. Hill. With the use of diamond drills, mules, and a massive labor force, the mines moved millions of tons per year and shipped them out of the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior, as well as Two Harbors. The City of Franklin was consolidated into the current City of Virginia.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 19.18 square miles (50 km2); 18.85 square miles (49 km2) is land and 0.33 square miles (1 km2) is water. Lakes in Virginia include Silver Lake and Bailey Lake. The area was originally named Qeechaquepagem by an Ojibwe tribe, which roughly means "lake of the north birds." Virginia is part of the Quad Cities, which include nearby Eveleth, Gilbert, and Mountain Iron.

The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Dfb" (Warm Summer Continental Climate). Summers are warm, sometimes hot, and winters are severely cold.

Virginia is a regional transportation hub within the Mesabi Range. Major roadways include U. S. routes 53 and 169 and State Highway 135 (MN 135). Other main routes include 2nd Avenue West, 9th Avenue West, 12th Avenue West, 13th Street South, 8th Street South, and 9th Street North. Downtown Virginia is centered along Chestnut Street. Arrowhead Transportation also allows for city bussing through the Virginia Metro area. In 2017, the U. S. 53 Bridge was built. It is the tallest bridge in Minnesota and the main bridge from the freeway from southern Minnesota to the northern state. in 2021, the bridge was renamed the Thomas Rukavina Memorial Bridge.