White Iron and Birch Lake

White Iron and Birch Lake 1898 - 1920: The First Settlers of Two Rural Communities in Northeastern Minnesota

by Mary Ann Starkman Porthan

White Iron and Birch Lake were rural communities located about ten miles south of Ely, Minnesota, along Highway 1. Beginning in 1898, immigrants from Finland, who had come to Ely throughout the 1890s, were the first people to apply for homesteads in the forested wilderness near the two lakes. This collection of homesteads signaled the birth of the two farming communities. The goal of this book is to record a brief history about the families and the individuals who settled the White Iron and Birch lake communities. This story begins deep in Finland's past. It includes theories on the origins of the Finnish people, a brief history of Finland and descriptions of the immigrants journey from Finland to America in the late 1800s. It continues with their arrival in Ely and ends with stories about them as pioneers settling on their homestead.