Zenith Furnace Company opened in 1902. This complex eventually included a blast furnace, a coal dock, and sixty-five coke ovens located on eighty acres of land along St. Louis Bay. The company produced pig iron, was active in the wholesale coal trade, and sold by-products such as ammonia gas, coal gas, and coal tar. Later purchased by Interlake Iron Corporation, the facility served as the northernmost merchant of pig iron plant in the United States until it closed permanently in 1962.

~ Photo Credit: University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections