Great Trail Horse

The town was founded in 1893 by Frank Hibbing, born in Hannover, Germany on December 1, 1856, and christened Franz Dietrich von Ahlen. His mother died when he was still in infancy and it was her name, Hibbing, which he assumed when he set out to seek his fortune in the New World. He first settled in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, where he worked on a farm and in a shingle mill. Injured in a mill accident, he considered becoming a lawyer, but after deciding he was not familiar enough with the English language to make a legal career possible, he turned to timber cruising. In 1887, Hibbing settled in Duluth where he established a real estate business and began explorations on the Vermilion Range.