Bengal was an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
on the boundary of
Itasca County
Itasca County ( ) is a county located in the Iron Range region of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,014. Its county seat is Grand Rapids. The county is named after Lake Itasca, which is in turn a shorte ...
and
Saint Louis County,
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
, United States, located about three hours north of
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
. Bengal was also previously known as Powers.
Founded on a line of the
Great Northern Railway adjacent to Lake Bengal, Bengal was platted in 1914 and was a farming and mining community.
Geography
The community was located immediately southwest of the city of
Hibbing boundary line, and south of the city of
Keewatin, near the intersection of Stuart Road and County Road 944.
County Road 16 (CR 16) and State Highway 73 (
MN 73) are both nearby.
The site of Bengal is approximately from
Duluth
Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...
.
The boundary line between
Saint Louis and
Itasca counties is in the vicinity. The community of
Silica
Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant f ...
is also nearby.
History
The area was originally a rail site known as Powers.
In 1914, Bengal was
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...
ted by Volney S. Jones and Carrie Jones, husband and wife residents of
Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...
. The community was situated in Section 1 of Township 55, Range 22 of Itasca County, adjacent to St. Louis County. The filing occurred on July 10, 1914 and was approved by the St. Louis County commissioner on July 13. The land was
surveyed by engineer and surveyor Burt Farrell.
Bengal was founded on the north side of Bengal Lake, with the townsite being divided into ten blocks.
Bengal was connected to the
Great Northern Railway, on the line connecting
Swan River and
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, between Acropolis and Lynwood.
By 1915, the ''
Hartland Herald'' newspaper was calling Bengal a "town on the Great Northern Railway".
Bengal's founding was also announced in ''The Mining and Engineering Journal'', where the town's prospects as a mining community were discussed: "New town of Bengal has just been platted in Sec. 1, 55-22, on line between St. Louis and Itasca Counties, 6 1/2 miles from
Nashwauk. There are some iron prospects in
hevicinity." The area was noted for both mining and farming, with the Minnesota Geological Survey stating in 1917, "There are also farming districts south of
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...
, and a few farms are developed along the Great Northern Railway lines in the southeastern part of the county in the vicinity of Swan River, Goodland, Acropolis, and Bengal
..vegetables form the principal crops, and amount to about 30 percent of the
ropvalue."
Circa 1918, the Bengal School was one of 82 schools in the Itasca School District 1. Later, Bengal was moved to School District 9.
In March 1919, portions of west central St. Louis County were hit hard by influenza. Among the communities which were hardest hit were
Lynwood and Bengal. According to the ''Glenville Progress'', most of the victims of the disease were schoolchildren, a number of whom were seriously ill.
Bengal's population was 5 in 1920,
and was 35 in 1940.
According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Bengal's population is estimated at 10.
See also
*
Costin Village, Minnesota
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Minnesota
Unincorporated communities in St. Louis County, Minnesota