[7] It is the former hometown of singer-songwriter Bob Dylan,[8] NBA Hall-of-Famer Kevin McHale, and former Governor of Minnesota Rudy Perpich.

The town was founded in 1893 by Frank Hibbing,[9] born in Walsrode, Germany on December 1, 1856, and christened Franz Dietrich von Ahlen.

His mother died when he was still in infancy and it was her name, Hibbing, which he assumed when he set out to seek his fortune in the New World.

Injured in a mill accident, he considered becoming a lawyer, but after deciding he was not familiar enough with the English language to make a legal career possible, he turned to timber cruising.

In 1887, Hibbing settled in Duluth where he established a real estate business and began explorations on the Vermilion Range.

In 1892, he headed a party of thirty men at Mountain Iron and cut a road through the wilderness to Section 22, 58–20.

Feeling personally responsible, he took the deepest pride in its development and, by his generous aid, made its progress possible.

For the last ten years of his life, Hibbing made his home in Duluth, where many of his business interests were centered.

He retained close contact with the community which bore his name, until he died of appendicitis on July 30, 1897, at age forty.

An Article of Incorporation was filed in July 1979 with the state and Hibbing became a city from that action in January 1980.

Hibbing is home to the world's largest iron ore mine, which was discovered by Leonidas Merritt.

Hibbing grew rapidly in its early years as the huge iron ore mines such as the Mahoning, Hull, Rust, Sellers, and Burt provided the raw material for America's industrial revolution.

In fact, the mines encroached on the village from the east, north, and west and it was determined that some of the ore body actually went under the town whose population had hit 20,000 by 1915.

The company, for its part, agreed to develop the downtown buildings with low interest loans that could be paid off over the years by the retailers.

New civic structures such as Hibbing High School, the Androy Hotel, the Village Hall, and the Rood Hospital were also constructed with mining company money.

Only one structure did not make it: the Sellers Hotel tumbled off some rollers and crashed to the ground leaving, as one witness said, "an enormous pile of kindling".

Hibbing is featured as a setting for two episodes of the fantasy horror television series, Supernatural.

Michael York's character in the comedy film, ''Wrongfully Accused'', was named Hibbing Goodhue.