Manganese

Manganese is a ghost town in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, built as a mining community on the Cuyuna Iron Range in Wolford Township. It operated from around 1912 until 1960, when it was formally dissolved and absorbed into Wolford Township. The former town site sits between Coles Lake and Flynn Lake, roughly 2 miles north of Trommald.

By the time Manganese appeared in the 1920 U.S. Census, its population was already declining. Today the site is a quiet, largely vanished settlement tucked between two lakes in rural Crow Wing County — more a landscape to explore than a destination with standing structures. Visitors interested in Minnesota mining history or simply the atmosphere of a forgotten place will find it a low-key stop best suited to curious explorers.