Editing Kinney, Minnesota (section)

===Republic of Kinney===
Mary P. Anderson (1915–2007) was elected the first female mayor of Kinney (and on the Iron Range) from 1973 to 2002. By 1977, the City of Kinney, with a population of 325 according to the 1970 census, suffered from a failing water system, and was faced with a replacement cost of $186,000. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to secure funding from state and federal agencies due to bureaucratic red tape, agencies such as the [[United States Department of Housing and Urban Development]] (HUD), the [[Federal Housing Administration]] (FHA), and the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Commission (IRRRC), the city council was led to believe that it would be easier to receive [[foreign aid]] if Kinney seceded from the union,<ref>{{cite web|last=Tyssen|first=Linda|date=October 29, 2016|title=Range native revisits Kinney's famous history|url=http://www.virginiamn.com/news/local/range-native-revisits-kinney-s-famous-history/article_11465658-4234-11e6-9ed7-8f311e3bd568.html|access-date=October 29, 2016|website=Mesabi Daily News}}</ref> declared war, and lost immediately. [[Mary Anderson (Mayor, Kinney, MN)|Mayor Mary Anderson]] and a supportive Kinney City Council sent a [[secession]] letter to U.S. Secretary of State [[Cyrus Vance]] on July 13, 1977.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kinney Secession: Effective but No Longer Necessary|url=https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/environment/water/waterline/featurestories/kinney.html|access-date=2021-08-16|website=www.health.state.mn.us}}</ref>

The secession was never officially acknowledged by Vance or the U.S. The news story broke locally in the ''[[Mesabi Daily News]]'' on February 5, 1978, in an article by Ginny Wennen entitled "Move over Monaco, here comes Kinney." The story garnered national and international attention beginning on February 7, 1978, when the story was featured on the ''[[NBC Nightly News]]'' with [[David Brinkley]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 17, 2021|last=Adam|title=The Little Town of Kinney, MN Once Tried to Secede from the U.S.|url=https://mix949.com/the-little-town-of-kinney-mn-once-tried-to-secede-from-the-u-s/|access-date=2021-08-16|website=MIX 94.9|language=en}}</ref>

[[Jeno Paulucci]], a businessman based in [[Duluth, Minnesota|Duluth]], [[Minnesota]], was the first to acknowledge the new republic and offer 'foreign aid' in the form of a dark brown 1974 Ford LTD police squad car and 10 cases of Jenos Sausage Pizza Mix on February 13, 1978. The squad car was painted with a Republic of Kinney shield on the driver's side that read "Commander in Chief, Republic of Kinney," and "Chief of Police, Kinney, Mn." on the passenger side.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The time Kinney, MN seceded|url=https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/07/26/the-time-kinney-mn-seceded|access-date=2021-08-16|website=MPR News}}</ref>

In November 1978, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) approved $198,000 grant, allocated in three payments of $66,000 per year from the Taconite Area Environmental Protection Fund, to repair the existing water system, construct cement runoff basins, and install additional fire hydrants.

The Republic of Kinney went on to create and sell over 1,600 passports between March and April 1978 at $1.00 apiece. Later the republic created buttons and sold T-shirts, and had a summer festival called 'Secession Days', which was first held during the weekend of August 1–2, 1987.

The city celebrated the 30th anniversary of its "independence" as the Republic of Kinney during the weekend of July 13–15, 2007. In conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Kinney secession, the city published a book titled ''Republic of Kinney''.