[4] In 1889, the Magnetic Iron Company began developing the Star Lake ore body,[5] which sat under some three-thousand acres of land.

[8] At the onset of World War II, Benson Mines reopened when Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation leased the site.

[9] The mining operation expanded significantly in the 1950s, and was renamed the New York Ore Division, although control remained in the hands of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation.

The company published a magazine called Men and Steel, which provided “general information about different parts of the plant… *as well as+…personal interest stories, *and+ weddings births, deaths, anniversaries, and other family news…” In 1952, the magazine highlighted the Company’s financial contributions to town projects, which included construction of the Central School building, water system, housing project, and hospital.

In late 2016, negotiations between St Lawrence County and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and other agencies, ended in an agreement allowing demolition of the remaining buildings on the site to begin.

Also, increasing pressure from foreign competitors, which were selling duty-free iron-ore products to the United States, caused the entire U.S steel industry to decline and collapse throughout the 1960s.

When the Benson Mine closed in August 1978 more than 365 people lost their jobs, and Star Lake slipped sharply into economic decline.