Great Northern Iron Ore Properties represents an important chapter in Minnesota history with a presence in St. Paul and on the Mesabi Iron Range that spans over a century, and key ties to James J. Hill – railroad pioneer and founder of the Great Northern Railway Company.During the late 1890s, Hill's son Louis W. Hill became interested in acquiring iron ore interests on the Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota. He was confident that the iron ore shipped from these lands would prove a valuable income source of traffic for the Great Northern Railway Company. He also believed that the ownership of iron ore itself would add great value to Great Northern Railway and its stockholders. These mineral interest acquisitions were primarily titled in the name of Louis W. Hill and several other companies owned by the Lake Superior Company, Limited ("Superior"), a Michigan partnership composed of James J. Hill and some of his associates. At the time, a Minnesota law provided that only 5,000 acres of land may be owned by any one company, which evolved from the federal Sherman Antitrust Act. Consequently, it was necessary to have the lands owned by several different entities, of which James J. Hill was the primary stockholder.

In 1899, Superior entered into a contract with Great Northern Railway under which, in consideration for the transfer of the iron ore lands to Superior, it would 1) pay the net income generated from the properties to the Great Northern Railway stockholders, 2) not sell any of the property without prior approval of Great Northern Railway, and 3) transfer the properties as directed by Great Northern Railway. By 1906, all the iron ore lands and mineral interests previously acquired and titled under the various fee ownership interests were transferred to Superior.In addition, because of a federal law known as the Hepburn Act of 1906, no railroad was permitted to haul commodities which they had produced themselves. Accordingly, in November 1906, Great Northern Railway directed Superior to transfer its stock in the mining property companies to the Trust known as Great Northern Iron Ore Properties. On December 7, 1906, 1,500,000 Great Northern Iron Ore Properties certificates of beneficial interest (shares) were issued to the stockholders of the Great Northern Railway, and the Trust was immediately quoted on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"). Fifty years later, the restrictive land ownership statute provision was repealed and all of the assets of the liquidated companies were transferred to direct ownership of the Trustees of Great Northern Iron Ore Properties.

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