About

The records of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company span the period from 1856 to 1960. These records document three of the major turning points in the history of American iron ore mining: (1) the shift of the iron and steel industry from reliance on local supplies of low to medium-grade ore to reliance on distant supplies of high-grade ore shipped long distances from the Lake Superior basin to the lower Great Lakes and the related shift of the American iron and steel industry from the east side of the Alleghenies to the upper Midwest; (2) the consolidation of iron ore mining in the hands of large corporations between 1895 and 1904, stimulated by and coexistent with the emergence of U.S. Steel as America’s first billion dollar corporation; and (3) the replacement of natural with artificial ores in the aftermath of World War II (beneficiation and pelletization).

Only the annual reports, maps and plans, and a few photographs have been digitized. The Annual Reports of the Land, Lumber, and Mining Departments contain 150 volumes that date from 1893 to 1960. The NMU Archives does not have annual reports for all of the years that CCI operated. All extant annual reports have been scanned. The Historic Maps and Plans include 235 items that date from 1882 to 1937. 

Most of the collection is only available at the Central Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University Archives. A full inventory is available in the finding aid.

We are still working on transferring this collection to the UPLINK website. For now, you can access it on the old website here.

See the full finding aid here.