Engineer Wen Ping Pan helped relocate Hibbing in the 1920s after iron ore was found beneath the town, redesigning the city and guiding residents through the move.
Transcript
Welcome to MN90: Minnesota History in 90 Seconds.
[Music: 1920s recording of piano gospel-blues]
Rich iron ore had been discovered beneath the Iron Range town of Hibbing in the early 1920s. Mining companies decided the solution was simple--move the entire town two miles south.
[Music: piano music stops]
[SFX: Heavy truck engine accelerating, driving away]
[Music: piano music starts again]
Helping plan that move was engineer Wen Ping Pan.
[Music: piano music stops]
Pan had come to Minnesota as the first Chinese student at the University of Minnesota.
[SFX: Papers rustling]
After graduation, he joined the Oliver Mining Company and moved to Hibbing in 1920.
[SFX: road construction]
Pan helped design the streets for the relocated city. Yet, residents frustrated about moving often directed their complaints to him, and Pan soon became known for calmly listening and helping settle disputes.
[SFX: people talking over each other]
Pan would spend the next forty years working for the mining company and living in the town he helped move.
[Music: 1920s recording of piano gospel-blues]
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