HIBBING

city, St. Louis county, northeastern Minnesota, U.S. It lies on the Mesabi Range, in a forest and lake region. Organized as a lumbering camp and named after Frank Hibbing, a timber cruiser, it was laid out and incorporated as a village in 1893. When rich deposits of hematite iron ore were discovered under the streets, most of the community was moved 2 miles (3.2 km) south in 1919. Old Hibbing became the site of the Hull-Rust-Mahoning Mine, one of the world's largest open-pit mines, 535 feet (163 m) deep, nearly 5 miles (8 km) across, and up to 1 mile (1.6 km) wide. The iron ore was mostly exhausted by the 1950s, and Hibbing turned successfully to the processing of nonmagnetic taconite. The original Northland-Greyhound bus line was established near Hibbing in 1926 as a commuter service between the old and new sites. Hibbing Community College opened in 1916. The Minnesota Museum of Mining is in Community Park. Pop. (1990) 18,046; (1994 est.) 17,663.