Ironton, MN

Ironton is a city on the Cuyuna Iron Range in Crow Wing County, immediately next to its twin city, Crosby. The 2020 census counted 576 residents. The community was platted in September 1910 and incorporated in June 1911, when mining companies and new rail lines were bringing workers into the range. The post office opened in 1910, and Minnesota Highway 210 and County Road 30 remain the main routes through town. The Cuyuna Range shaped work, housing, and the town's early daily rhythms.

Ironton was built around manganese-rich iron ore, and its name comes straight from that mining landscape. When the mines closed around the 1980s, the old pits became mine lakes and part of the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area. Crosby-Ironton schools, the nearby trail network, and the roads shared with Crosby keep the two communities connected. Ironton still carries the shape of a mining town, but the water-filled pits, forest, and outdoor routes have given the old industrial ground a second chapter.