By P.Moraski/Tower

If you stand on the quiet shoreline of Stuntz Bay in Soudan, Minnesota, it’s easy to get lost in the view—rows of weathered boathouses hugging the water, their tin roofs glinting in the sun, the gentle lap

of Lake Vermilion against the shore. But behind the beauty is a story that stretches back more than 150

years, to a man named George Stuntz. In 1865, Stuntz wasn’t here for the scenery. A government land surveyor from Superior, Wisconsin, he came to the Vermilion Range with maps, a compass, and a

knack for spotting opportunity. While traveling through the area, he came across something that would

change the region forever—iron ore. Of course, the Ojibwe who lived here had long known of the rich

red rock, but Stuntz’s find would be the spark that set off a rush of investment and industry. He carried

a sample to George C. Stone in Duluth, a man with connections and ambition. Stone took it to Edward Breitung, a wealthy investor, and soon the gears were turning. By the 1880s, mining was in full swing at

the newly opened Soudan Mine, and the quiet shoreline of Lake Vermilion began to bustle with life. The

bay where Stuntz first made his mark would carry his name from then on—Stuntz Bay—a small tribute

to the man whose discovery helped shape the Iron Range. Today, the bay tells another chapter of the

story. Lining its edge is the historic boathouse district, about 140 rustic structures built by miners and

their families. They’re patched together from tamarack logs and sheets of corrugated metal salvaged

from the mine—proof that the people here knew how to make use of what they had. Once they stored

fishing boats and canoes for long summer days on the lake; now they stand as silent reminders of a

time when work and leisure were both tied to the water. So when you hear the name Stuntz Bay, you’re

not just hearing a label on a map—you’re hearing the echo of a man’s footsteps in 1865, the clang of

pickaxes in the Soudan Mine, and the laughter of families along Lake Vermilion. It’s a place where

history and the present sit side by side, just like the boathouses and the shoreline.