| 1804 |
First recorded use:
Lewis & Clark expedition fueled a blacksmith forge |
| 1873 |
First commercial mine
opens in Morton County |
| 1900 |
A total of 73
underground mines operating |
| 1919 |
First surface mine
opens; Otter Tail Power builds Harvey power plant |
| 1928 |
Otter Tail Power
constructs Washburn power plant |
| 1941 |
Number of mines declines
from a high of 320 in 1940 to 296 in 1941 (more than half of
remaining mines are surface mines) |
| 1951 |
Lignite production
reaches 3.2 million tons before declining to 2.3 million tons in
1958 |
| 1954 |
MDU opens R.M. Heskett
power plant at Mandan; second unit added in 1963 |
| 1954 |
William J. Neal Station
begins operating at Velva (acquired by Basin Electric in 1973 -
plant currently inactive) |
| 1966 |
Basin Electric opens
first major lignite-fired generating plant (Leland Olds Station) at
Stanton |
| 1967 |
United Power Association
finishes construction on the lignite-fired Stanton Station in
Stanton |
| 1970 |
Minnkota Power
Cooperative completes first unit of Milton Young Station at Center |
| 1975 |
Leland Olds Unit 2 in
service at Stanton |
| 1977 |
Young Station Unit 2 in
service at Center |
| 1979 |
Coal Creek Station Unit
1 in service at Underwood |
| 1981 |
Coyote Station in
service at Beulah; Coal Creek Station Unit 2 in service at Underwood |
| 1984 |
Antelope Valley Station
Unit 1 & Great Plains Synfuels Plant in operation at Beulah |
| 1986 |
Antelope Valley Station
Unit 2 in service at Beulah |
| 1994 |
Lignite production
reaches all-time high of 32.2 million tons |
