Key Points
- Ely Miners Memorial, “Stains of Toil – We Remember,” was dedicated in a ceremony on Sunday, 14 June 2026, at the Pioneer Mine Museum in Ely, Minnesota.
- The memorial pays tribute to the 218 miners who have died working in the underground iron ore mines of Ely, Minnesota, from 1889 to 1966.
- It is comprised of two granite tablets which bear the names, ages, date of death and the mines in which the tragic accidents occurred of all 218 miners.
- John E. Ogren, whose death marks the first recorded mining fatality, died in the Chandler Mine on 31 January 1889, aged 28.
- This project has taken over two decades to come about, having been first publicised in 2008 and approval having been granted by the Ely City Council in 2011.
- The project funding included $15,000 from the city of Ely, $15,000 grant from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, $5,000 from Twin Metals Minnesota and private donations totalling over $50,000.
- More than 250 people were present at the ceremony, and among the speakers present were State Representative Roger Skraba, council member Albert Forsman and Michele Lammi, lead researcher.
- There are plans for the addition of two statues of miners,
Ely (Wales Times) August 20, 2026 – A crowd of more than 250 people gathered at the historic Pioneer Mine site in uk/local/cardiff/ely/">Ely on Sunday for the dedication of the Ely Miners Memorial, a permanent tribute to the 218 miners who lost their lives working in the city’s underground iron ore mines between 1889 and 1966. The unveiling of the memorial, named “Stains of Toil – We Remember,” marked the culmination of a project more than two decades in the making and drew family members, elected officials and community volunteers to the Pioneer Mine Museum.
The memorial consists of two large granite tablets engraved with the names of the fallen miners, alongside each man’s age, his date of death and the name of the mine where the fatal accident occurred. According to MPR News, which covered the ceremony, the granite panels were designed to serve as a lasting record of the workers who died underground in Ely’s iron ore operations.
The first recorded death
The project’s origins trace back to 1889, when the first of the 218 men did not come home from work. As reported by The Ely Echo, that miner was John E. Ogren, who died in the Chandler Mine on 31 January 1889, aged 28. A contemporary newspaper account reprinted by the Ely Arts and Heritage Center (EAHC) described the incident in graphic detail, noting that Ogren, a Swedish labourer, was struck by the descending cage while working in one of the lower levels of the mine, and that “death was instantaneous.”
Nick Wognum, president of the EAHC, told The Ely Echo that volunteers had spent years researching the names and stories of the fallen miners. “We had a number of volunteers going back 20 years who did research,” Wognum said. “Ely native Michele Lammi and her team did a very thorough job and collected screenshots of newspaper reports. We were able to reprint many of those in this week’s paper.”
Funding and construction
The effort to build the memorial was publicly announced in 2008, and the Ely City Council formally gave its go-ahead in 2011. According to The Ely Echo, the stated goal was “to create a memorial to the miners who died here and whose work contributed to the success of industry during World War II.”
Funding for the project drew on multiple sources. The city of Ely contributed $15,000, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board provided a $15,000 grant, and Twin Metals Minnesota donated $5,000 to the EAHC. Private donations pushed the total beyond $50,000. Wognum noted that the campaign had fallen just short of its target before a final contribution arrived. “We were just under $2,000 short of our goal when a gentleman named Hank Shea, a relative of the Swanson family, brought in a check to cover the shortfall,” he said.
The granite tablets were carved by Laurentian Monument Granite and Stone of Virginia, and the top of the memorial is capped with a headworks sheave wheel, according to The Timberjay. Ely clerk-treasurer Harold Langowski earlier told The Timberjay that the overall budget for the memorial was approximately $60,000.
The dedication ceremony
The dedication ceremony on Sunday drew more than 250 people to the Pioneer Mine site. As reported by The Ely Echo, speakers at the event included State Representative Roger Skraba, Ely City Council member Albert Forsman, Stacey Scholz from Iron Range Resources, Doug Luthanen, who wrote the “Stains of Toil” song quoted on the monuments, head researcher Michele Lammi, EAHC board member Bill Erzar, and Becky Rom, who lost her grandfather in a mining accident in 1918.
Minnesota News Network reported that the ceremony honoured the miners whose sacrifices helped build Ely and shaped Minnesota’s mining heritage. The Ely Echo also reported that the granite panels show the name and age of each miner along with the Ely mine where he worked.
Future additions
Organisers have outlined plans to expand the memorial site in the coming years. As reported by The Ely Echo, Wognum said: “We have plans to add two statues of miners, one who looks like a miner in the late 1800s with a candle on his helmet and the other representing a miner when the Pioneer closed on April 1, 1967.” The Pioneer Mine, which operated in Ely for decades, closed on that date in 1967.
Background
Ely, a city in northeastern Minnesota, sits at the heart of the state’s Iron Range, an area long defined by the mining of hematite iron ore. For more than a century, underground mines in and around Ely extracted ore that fed American industry, including the war effort during the Second World War. That industrial output came at a human cost, with 218 recorded deaths among miners working in the area’s underground operations between 1889 and 1966.
The Ely Arts and Heritage Center, a volunteer-led organisation, spearheaded the research and fundraising that made the memorial possible. Volunteers combed historical newspapers and records to identify the miners and document the circumstances of their deaths, with many original newspaper clippings reprinted in the local press. The memorial’s granite tablets now provide a permanent public record of those who died, listing each miner’s name, age, date of death and the mine where the accident occurred.
The project moved through several phases over more than two decades, from its initial discussion and public announcement in 2008 to the city council’s formal approval in 2011 and the eventual construction of the granite base and tablets. The dedication on 14 June 2026 brought the long-running effort to completion, with the memorial installed at the historic Pioneer Mine site in Ely.
Prediction
For the families and descendants of the 218 miners, the Ely Miners Memorial provides a permanent and public acknowledgement of lives lost in the area’s mining industry. The inclusion of each miner’s name, age and mine means that relatives who may have had little documented record of their ancestors’ deaths now have a dedicated place of remembrance at the Pioneer Mine site, alongside the newspaper accounts gathered during the research.
For the wider community of Ely and the Iron Range, the memorial is likely to become a lasting educational and cultural landmark. The planned addition of two statues representing miners from the late 1800s and from the Pioneer’s closure in 1967 suggests the site will continue to develop as a heritage attraction. As the memorial becomes established, it may draw visitors interested in the region’s mining history, supporting local tourism and reinforcing the connection between Ely’s industrial past and its present identity.
For those researching the history of mining in Minnesota, the memorial and the accompanying documentation gathered by the Ely Arts and Heritage Center offer a consolidated record of fatal accidents in Ely’s underground mines. The project’s emphasis on preserving original newspaper reports means the memorial could serve as a reference point for historians, students and journalists examining the human toll of iron ore extraction in the region.
