Buhl, MN

About Buhl

Buhl is located high on the Laurentian Divide and midway across the historic Mesabi Range. The Mesabi Trail winds through Buhl offering visitors a panoramic view of the historic Grant Iron Mine.

The population of Buhl in 2019 was 973. Buhl’s city motto claims it has “The finest drinking water in America.” The water is supplied by a glacial aquifer 700 feet deep below the surface encased in 300 feet of solid granite. Buhl Water is available from merchants around the Mesabi Range and it is definitely worth trying.

Top Attractions

Northern Lights Music Festival

History

Following the final retreat of glaciers from northeastern Minnesota approximately 10,000 years ago, native peoples migrated north and west. The Dakota people historically occupied the area. Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe/Anishinaabe), the most populous tribe in North America, migrated westward and the Dakota moved west of the Mississippi in the seventeenth century. There were periods of peace and conflict between the two tribes, but the stream of European American settlers into their territories resulted in conflict. The U.S. Government ultimately removed both tribes from their native territories and put them on reservations.

Fur trading between native peoples and French explorers flourished from the 1660’s onward. The first major industry was the wholesale logging of the entire northeastern (‘arrowhead’) portion of the state. In Buhl, logging companies moved into the area in 1898, established a camp, and began logging.

Iron mining began almost simultaneously as lumbering with the Sharon Ore Company platting a forty-acre townsite in 1900 prior to digging. In 1900 there was no hotel or restaurant. Meals were served at a logging camp in a tent. The train depot was a boxcar. Buhl was incorporated February 25, 1901. The town was named after Frank H. Buhl, then president of the ore company. Eight open pit mines eventually surrounded the town. In 1903, the town’s residents consisted of 750 men and 50 women. At its peak in 1920, Buhl had 2007 residents.

Buhl’s largest mine, the Wabigon, held the record for low-cost operation. In three seasons from 1920-1923, it was stripped of overburden and 500,000 tons of ore by electric drag lines. It was the first open pit on the Mesabi Range to be electrified, and its shovel, with a dipper capacity of fourteen tons, was the largest ever used to that date in an open pit.

Services & Amenities

Along the Mesabi Trail in Buhl is Stubler Beach, which offers a pavilion, swimming area, restrooms/changing rooms, and a fishing dock. The Stubler and Judson Pits are stocked for trout fishing and there is remote portage in lakes just north of the city. Buhl also features a scenic walking trail which winds around the Stubler and Judson Pits. Burton Park features three bocce ball courts, playground equipment, a pavilion, a basketball court, restroom facilities, skateboard ramps, and an 18-hole championship disc golf course at Judson Pit. The campground offers eight rustic campsites with fire pits, elevated tent pads, and a picnic area. The striking Buhl Library is home to the City’s most precious artifacts.