Virginia, Minnesota

Virginia is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. With an economy heavily reliant on large-scale iron ore mining, Virginia is considered the Mesabi Iron Range's commercial center. The population was 8,423 at the 2020 census. Virginia is a part of the Duluth metropolitan area, and U.S. Highway 53 runs through town.

Virginia began as a logging settlement and experienced significant growth when the iron ore industry expanded. Orrin Day Kinney, the original owner of the land, founded the town. The site was planned in 1892 and named Virginia in honor of the home state of many local lumber workers at that time. A post office was established in Virginia in 1893. The city was officially incorporated in 1895. As the mining industry developed, mines in the Virginia area became highly productive, consistently breaking records for ore output by the late 1890s. The city’s main population increase started after the construction of mining camps for prominent business figures such as Andrew Carnegie, Leonidas Merritt, Jay Cooke, John D. Rockefeller, William J. Olcott, and James J. Hill. Mining operations relied on diamond drills, mules, and a large workforce to extract millions of tons of ore each year. The ore was shipped from the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior, as well as Two Harbors.

The commercial heart of Virginia endured two catastrophic fires in 1893 and 1900, with the latter event leading to the complete destruction of the downtown business area. In response, city ordinances were enacted mandating the use of brick for new commercial construction along Chestnut Street, which subsequently led to the establishment of a durable and fire-resistant downtown core. Many properties in this historic district were operated by early immigrant families from Finland, Sweden, Slovenia, and Croatia, along with other European countries who contributed to the city’s economic landscape. These groups, drawn by mining and industrial jobs, became major parts of the business community and established various enterprises in the city’s commercial district.

The City of Franklin was consolidated into the City of Virginia.

The Virginia Commercial Historic District is a designation applied to the historic downtown of Virginia, Minnesota, United States. It comprises 78 contributing properties built from 1900 to 1941. It was listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 for its local significance in the theme of commerce. It was nominated for representing an early-20th-century business district and Virginia's development as a mining boomtown and tourism gateway.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 19.18 square miles (49.68 km²); 18.85 square miles (48.82 km²) is land and 0.33 square miles (0.85 km²) is water. Lakes in Virginia include Silver Lake and Bailey Lake. An Ojibwe tribe originally named the area Qeechaquepagem, which roughly means "lake of the north birds".

Virginia is part of the Quad Cities, along with Eveleth, Gilbert, and Mountain Iron.

The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Dfb" (Warm Summer Continental Climate). Summers are warm, sometimes hot, and winters are severely cold.