How many pay phones are left in Duluth?
Ah, the once-ubiquitous pay telephone. I remember when they could be found on every major street corner, but if I needed one today, I would have no idea where to find one.
Are there any pay phones left in Duluth? If so, where? Confirm their existence by commenting below, but please post only current confirmations. If you have a vague memory of one existing a few years ago, that doesn’t count.
The list so far:
Duluth:
ICO at 6th Avenue East & 6th Street (1)
Cub Foods (?)
DECC (1)
Fond du Luth Casino (2)
Government Services Building (1)
UMD (~6)
Duluth Public Library–Main (1)
DTA Transit Center (1)
Holiday Center Mall (3)
DeWitt-Seitz Building (1)
Second/Third Avenue West & First Street (1)
Holiday Stationstore at Grand Avenue & Central Avenue (1)
Spur at 27th Avenue West & Michigan Street (1)
Superior:
Hammond Spur (1)
Hillside ICO – Sixth Ave. E. & Sixth St.
Guessing the Payphone Project isn’t terribly up-to-date, since it lists Jim’s Hamburgers.
Cub foods
As far as I can tell, the Payphone Project is at least 10 years out of date, judging by certain businesses that closed long ago.
suebedo, how many phones are at Cub? I’m assuming one, but if there’s two, they both count toward the total.
I noticed a lone payphone at an IT conference at the DECC not quite two years ago, because I thought it was funny to have all these IT folks on their cell phones with this lonely payphone all by itself.
Library lower level? That weird corner in the ticket area at the DECC? Just guesses.
My memories of pretty much everything are vague and from a few years ago.
There are two at Fond-du-Luth Casino.
First floor Government Services Building. I happened by it the other day and it caught my eye because I haven’t seen one in a while!
Cheryl Anderson commented on the PDD Facebook page: “There are about 6 on and around the UMD campus.”
Man, you guys are making me want a 2600 meeting.
This one doesn’t count since it’s from a few months ago and it’s in Hayward at the Sawyer County Courthouse. It works for your one phone call to your bail bondsman. I have kept a short list of pay phones from travels in the upper Midwest — taken mostly with a smartphone, ironically enough.
There used to be a 2600 meeting at Barnes & Noble when I first moved to town, but it stopped because of lack of attendance.
Duluth Public Library.
Whether you are heading east or west from downtown, the Duluth Transit Authority has you covered. At left, DTA Transit Center (eastbound). At right, Holiday Center Mall (westbound).
Like the arches of Rome’s imperial period, the ancient stone pay-phone columns of Downtown Duluth leave archaeologists in awe.
I didn’t snap a picture but I just saw a payphone at the Spur station right at the foot of the Blatnik Bridge in Superior…
There was one in the Lake Avenue side entrance of the DeWitt-Seitz building a couple of months ago. I can’t be certain if it is still there though.
By my studio, right outside the Encounter Skatepark on First Street, between Second and Third avenues west. I still see people use it every once in a while.
I’m pretty sure there is one at the Sinclair station out near the intersection of McQuade and Hwy61. I pointed it out to my 7 and 4 year olds as a peculiarity and tried to explain how it was back before cell phones…
Don’t worry, the pay phone wasn’t damaged when the awning collapsed at the ICO. (Photo by Jason Wussow.)
There is also a pay phone at Port City Antiques. You can buy it for $195.
I’ve found two more. The one pictured here is inside the Holiday Stationstore on the corner of Grand Avenue and Central Avenue. It boasts a small screen for instructions and calls are available at the low, low price of 4 minutes for $1.00.
There is another one inside the Spur station on the corner of 27th Avenue West and Michigan Street. The phone is located near the restrooms, in the little hallway that leads to Quiznos.
Izzy’s BBQ Lounge & Grill in Superior.
This one is at the Alpine Bar in Gary-New Duluth, but it hasn’t worked in years. The phone book hanging from it is a 2005-2006 edition.
Jim Heffernan has a new blog post about pay-telephone booths, which is something we neglected to mention in this post. At this time there is no evidence that even one phone booth remains in Duluth.