Ely is the "capital" of the Vermilion Range. Its personality is reflected by the towering black headframes of underground mines and the surrounding lakes of the Superior National Forest. The town was named in honor of Samuel P. Ely, who was prominent in the development of local mining properties.

In 1886, iron ore was discovered at the South Chandler Mine (inactive), which was started as an open pit. A town site was platted the following spring, only accessible from Tower over lakes, then through forest on an Indian foot trail that wound deviously for 25 miles to avoid bogs and marshes. That winter the effort was made to bring supplies necessary for the entire summer in one trip on sleds over the lakes, but the little community grew fast and a wagon road had to be cut.

In 1888, the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad already linking the other mining settlements was extended to the new village, which numbered on 177 persons, and the town began a steady growth. Ore was shipped from the Pioneer Mine in 1889, from the Zenith in 1892, and from the Sibley in 1899. In 1891, the village had been designated a city, and by 1910 its population was 3,572.

Iron-ore mining is still the main industry. Since its famous mines are of the underground type, permitting operation in all seasons, the city is a year-round mining town. In underground mining, a shaft, reinforced by permanent wooden or concrete sides, is sunk outside the ore body at various points, and from it, drifts (tunnels) are driven horizontally to the deposit. Raises (openings) are bored upward and sub-drifts made, until the ore body is honeycombed; then the ore between the sub-drifts is blasted out and dragged to the main shaft by scrapers of pulled by air-driven electric hoists. The ore is dumped into steel skips (boxes), hoisted to the surface and emptied into cars for distribution to the stock piles.

Thirteen miles southeast of the city's boundaries, on State 1, a native black granite is quarried. This is one of the few important quarries in the Minnesota Arrowhead country.

Farming is growing in importance in the Ely are, especially in the White Iron Lake district.

Ely's first school was opened in 1889 with Miss Wilson from Duluth as its first teacher. Today the school campus covers four blocks and contains the attractively grouped buildings of the Washington, Industrial, Memorial High, and Junior College. Three State champion divers received their training in the Memorial High swimming pool, and several widely known athletes trained in its gymnasium.

Ely's City Hall, of Indiana limestone in a modernistic design, erected in 1930, houses all city departments and serves as St. Louis County's part-time auxiliary courthouse. The motorized volunteer fire department is the largest of its kind in the State. A municipally owned water and light plant supplies electricity and water to city consumers. the Community Center Building, maintained for community activities, houses the Public Library, Ely Commercial Club,and Tourist Bureau.

The South Slavonic Catholic Union, organized as a local venture in 1898, maintains national headquarters here. The building erected in 1934, is of pink Kasota stone in a modern American design.

At Sandy Point, on Shagawa Lake, is the Oliver Iron mining Company's recreational park with playground apparatus, a pavilion, and a bathing beach. Whiteside Park, a ten-acre square, is another recreational area.

Ely in recent years has developed an extensive tourist trade. Fishermen, hunters, and canoeists, starting into the Superior National Forest, use Ely as a base of supplies. Its many resorts offer accommodations at a wide range of prices. Many tourists visiting the territory now travel by plane, hydroplane fishing trips are becoming popular. Three planes, equipped with pontoons, take fishing parties from Shagawa Lake to remote lakes.

Ely is reached by good hard-surfaced highways.