Silver Bay is a city in Lake County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 2,068 at the 2000 census. The city attained wide-spread publicity in the 1960s when it was discovered that the Reserve Corporation was dumping taconite tailings 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.