The city attained notoriety in the 1960s when it was discovered that the Reserve Corporation was dumping taconite residue into Lake Superior. In 1972, they were forced to stop and charged with violating the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, which prohibited the dumping of harmful materials into interstate waters. In 1977, after a long trial, a new waste-storage facility was built 7 miles inland.
State Highway 61 serves as a main arterial route in the city.
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,068 people, 844 households, and 589 families residing in the city. The population density was 268.0 people per square mile (103.4/km²). There were 933 housing units at an average density of 120.9/sq mi (46.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.68% White, 0.05% African American, 1.11% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.10% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.68% of the population. 22.2% were of German, 18.1% Norwegian, 11.5% Swedish, 6.5% Finnish, 6.4% American, 6.1% Irish and 5.2% English ancestry according to Census 2000.
There were 844 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.4% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 23.4% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 27.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 104.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,524, and the median income for a family was $41,667. Males had a median income of $40,655 versus $25,809 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,958. About 5.3% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.