Est. 1917 · National Register of Historic Places · Minnesota Mining History · Cuyuna Iron Range · Industrial Disaster · Crow Wing County History
The Milford Mine opened in 1917 on the Cuyuna Iron Range near Crosby, Minnesota, under owner George H. Crosby. The mine extracted iron ore with unusually high manganese concentrations — material in demand for the production of heavy, high-grade steel shipped to mills in Detroit and Cleveland. By 1924 the mine had reached a depth of 200 feet and produced 70,000 tons of ore that year.
On February 5, 1924, at approximately 3:30 in the afternoon, a surface cave-in at the mine's easternmost end breached a mud layer that was in direct hydraulic contact with nearby Foley Lake. The lake and adjacent boggy ground surged into the underground tunnel system. In less than 20 minutes, the mineshaft flooded to within 15 to 20 feet of the surface.
Of the 48 miners working underground that afternoon, 7 survived. The 41 who died represented a cross-section of the immigrant labor force that worked the Cuyuna Range — primarily men from Finland, Croatia, and other central European backgrounds. Thirty-eight of the 41 were married. They left behind more than 80 children.
Among the survivors was 15-year-old Frank Hrvatin Jr., who helped pull other miners up the 200-foot ladder to safety. His father, Frank Hrvatin Sr., was among the dead.
A state investigation concluded no blame could be attached to the mining company. Recovery of the bodies required nine months of dewatering operations; the last body was not recovered until November 9, 1924. The mine resumed operations but closed permanently in 1932 as Depression-era steel demand collapsed.
Crow Wing County began developing the site as Milford Mine Memorial Park in 2010. It was designated a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011 for its significance in the themes of industry and historical archaeology.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milford_Mine
- https://www.crowwing.gov/294/Milford-Mine-Memorial-Park
- https://www.minnpost.com/minnesota-history/2013/02/milford-mine-disaster-1924-save-your-breath-and-start-climbing/
Sensed Presence
The paranormal tradition around the Milford Mine is quiet and specific. After 41 men drowned in the February 1924 flood, the mine was dewatered and operations resumed. Workers who returned to those tunnels — including many of the same underground passages where the flood had killed their coworkers — began leaving employment without giving reasons. Multiple men quit in the years following the disaster, a pattern documented in the regional oral tradition as men who found they could not continue working in the space.
The nine months it took to recover the bodies mean that portions of the mine's tunnel system held the drowned dead for an extended period. Frank Hrvatin Jr., who survived at age 15 by helping pull other miners up the escape ladder while his father was killed in the water below, lived with the knowledge that the mine continued operating around him.
No formal paranormal investigation of the site has been conducted or documented in publicly accessible sources. The park itself is a place of solemn memorial rather than active haunted tourism. Foley Lake, the source of the flood, remains visible from the boardwalk trail — the same body of water that entered the mine and never fully receded from the collective memory of the Cuyuna Range communities.
