There's An Independent Republic Surrounded By Minnesota, And It's One Of The Quirkiest Places You'll Ever Go
By Trent Jonas|Published April 28, 2023
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Trent Jonas
Author
Trent Jonas came to Minnesota to attend college - and never left. He's a Twin Cities-based writer with a BA in English and a MFA in creative writing, a Minnesota Master Naturalist, and the proud father of two adult children. With more than a decade of freelance writing experience under his belt, Trent is often out exploring his favorite topics: Minnesota's woods, lakes, and trails. Rhubarb pie is his weakness, so discovering new diners is also a passion.
Did you know that a Minnesota town once seceded from the United States? It’s true! The small town of Kinney announced its secession in 1977. The secession was never officially acknowledged, but the Republic of Kinney is one of the quirkiest places you can visit in (near?) the state of Minnesota.
Kinney is a tiny town of about 150 people on the Mesabi Iron Range in northern Minnesota.
It’s located between the larger towns of Mountain Iron and Buhl. The landscape around the town still wears the scars of Minnesota’s iron mining industry.
Settled largely by Finnish immigrants who worked in the local mine, Kinney’s population peaked at 1,200 in the 1920s. It’s fallen by almost 90 percent over the following decades.
In the mid-1970s, the town was in need of a new water system. But with a population of fewer than 200 people, it lacked the tax base it needed to pay for it. Nor could it obtain funding from other governmental sources.
So, in 1977, Kinney’s town leadership drafted a letter to then U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, announcing its secession from the United States. The town believed it would be easier to obtain aid for fixing its water system as a foreign country than as an Iron Range town.
Despite the town’s population of just over 160, more than 1,600 passports were sold.
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Duluth businessman Jeno Paulucci (of Jeno’s Pizza Rolls fame) took up the cause and donated a vehicle to Kinney. The doors were emblazoned with the republic’s seal.
And visitors don’t need a passport to visit the Republic of Kinney these days.
The Mesabi Trail is an awesome way to visit Kinney and many of the other fascinating small towns on the Iron Range. If you’re looking for another oddball Minnesota destination, be sure to visit the wacky Franconia Sculpture Park and prepare to have your mind blown.
Have you visited Kinney or, better still, are you a Republic of Kinney passport holder? Let us know in the comments.
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