Around Swedish America in 548 Days - Day 35

Day 35 - Hibbing

Greyhound is one of the best-known transportation companies in the world. It was started in Hibbing near Duluth by a young Swedish miner who drove fellow workers to and from the mine for a small charge.

Carl Eric Wickman (1887-1954) had come to the United States at the age of 17. His first bus was a second-hand automobile. At the time of his death, the Greyhound corporation operated more than 7,000 buses. Andrew G. Anderson, nicknamed "Bus Andy", was a Swedish immigrant born in 1882 who settled in this northern Minnesota community on the Mesabi Iron Range. Along with two other men, he founded a transportation service between Hibbing and Alice in 1914. The business grew, and in 1916 the Mesabi Transportation Company, the forerunner of the Greyhound Corporation, was founded. Another early Hibbing resident, Swedish American Carl Eric Wickman, is recognized as Greyhound's founder, but he later moved to Chicago. Unlike Wickman, Anderson stayed in Hibbing until his death in the mid-1960s. The Andrew G. Anderson House, erected in 1920, is a large two-story brick residence combining Georgian Revival and Spanish architecture, at 1001 E. Howard Street. It remains a private residence.

The Greyhound Bus Origin Center, at Twenty-third and E. Fifth Avenue, tells the bus line's history. Call the Hibbing Chamber of Commerce(218-262-3895) for information.