About Iron Range Research Center

• Mission Statement

• Success Stories & Testimonials

• Center Partnerships

• Gifts & Donations

• Our Staff & Volunteers 

The Iron Range Research Center is a library and archival facility located at the Ironworld Discovery Center, Chisholm, Minnesota. Chisholm is located approximately 80 miles north of Duluth, six miles east of Hibbing in the heart of the Mesabi Iron Range. Funded by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, a Minnesota State Agency, the Research Center is open to the public year round.

A special library, the Research Center focuses on the regional, local and personal history of Minnesota's iron ranges and the people who settled here. An integral part of the Ironworld Discovery Center, the Research Center is a repository and resource for historical documentation and interpretative information. Primary interest areas are geology, mining, settlement, industrial development, immigration, ethnicity, logging, natural resources, social, political and economic history and genealogy.

An archival repository for the written, oral and visual records of the IRRRB Taconite Tax Relief Area, the Research Center serves students, scholars, local historical societies, the media as well as genealogists. As a Minnesota Historical Society sanctioned government records repository, the archives collects and services records from local and regional units of government.

We offer a broad array of services which can be grouped in the following categories :

• On-site Public Services

Records collected in the Iron Range Research Center are inventoried, organized and cataloged to make the records easily accessible to the public. This includes an in-house access system as well as making materials accessible through electronic networks such as this web site.

• Genealogical Research Services

The Iron Range Research Center provides research services via mail, email, fax and electronically through our website. Internet travelers from all over the world are able to access information on the Center's collections, services, fees and payment options. An online submission request system is available to allow you to request  services from us directly, and to pay for them with a credit card via a secure interface.

• Historical Materials Collection/Preservation

The Iron Range Research Center was established as a repository for historical materials so they would be available and easily accessible to the people on the Iron Range. The facility was built specifically as an archives so the records could be properly stored, preserved and accessed.

• Education

Primary source materials are the richest of resources when undertaking historical and genealogical research. Students, scholars, local historians and genealogists are some of the many people/groups who use the Iron Range Research Center in a variety of ways to enhance the promotion for the study and learning of Iron Range history and genealogical research.

• Marketing/Promotion

The Iron Range Research Center does more than preserve historical and genealogical records making them available for research and educational purposes; it also educates people from outside the area about the importance of Iron Range and family history by increasing the visibility of the Center as a significant historical and genealogical resource and catalyst for historical and genealogical inquiry.

• Outreach

Throughout the State of Minnesota, there are organizations interested in the history of the Iron Range and genealogy of its people. They range from museums, historical societies and libraries to social and civic organizations that do projects to educate and preserve local history and genealogical research. The Iron Range Research Center serves as a central source for the dissemination of this information out into the communities of the region.

• Partnerships/Cooperation

The Iron Range Research Center is a member of regional, state, national and international organizations that emphasize history and genealogy. The Center strives to facilitate these relationships and make services, collections and consulting time available to, and through these other organizations, libraries and institutions.

• Contact Us!       

[Top] [Home] [About Us] [What's New] [Location/Hours] [Genealogy] [Photography] [Local History] [Mining] [Ironworld] [Contact Us] [Links] [Help] [Shop]