Historic building tour features eastside icons, Carnegie library

After exploring the west side of Duluth last year, history lovers will tour two grand mansions, several repurposed landmarks and a century-old church clustered on the city’s eastern side this weekend.

The Duluth Preservation Alliance’s 2026 Historic Properties Tour is from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20. The annual self-guided event raises funds for the nonprofit organization and its mission to protect and preserve Duluth’s unique architectural heritage. Tickets are $32.

The east side of Duluth has always been a treasure trove of beautiful old buildings so most attractions this year are within several blocks. Organizers said the tour route lets visitors walk through and experience both old world charm and innovative new uses for historic structures.

“This year is a really interesting and exciting mix of public and private spaces,” said DPA President Lori Melton. “It’s a glimpse not only into homes but spaces that have made up our Duluth community and its history. So I’m very excited to have that mix this year.”

The historic property tour typically attracts hundreds of visitors who are welcome to walk through noteable homes, businesses and public structures of the late 19th and early 20th century Duluth. Melton called many of the buildings on the tour “iconic.”

“It’s really more of a signature building kind of tour this year,” she said. “People have probably driven by a lot of these spaces and said: ‘I always wanted to see in there.’ This is their opportunity to go in and really appreciate the craftsmanship that made it.”

The tour includes the following stops:

• Duluth Carnegie Library (1902), 101 W. Second St.
• Pilgrim Congregational Church (1917), 2310 E. Fourth St.
• Francis J. and Maryann Gowan Dacey House (1919), 2531 E. Sixth St.
• “Highpoint” the Bernard and Ernestine Silberstein house (1914), 21 N. 21st Ave. E.
• The Hemlock Exchange, Northwestern Bell building (1921), 1804 E. First St.
• Karpeles Manuscript Museum (1912), 902 E. First St.

Longtime Duluth preservationists Dennis Lamkin and his partner Jon Niemi will open their home to the tour for the first time in about 15 years. Lamkin and Niemi purchased “Highpoint” in 2003. Lamkin said he looks forward to making a memorable experience for visitors.

“I’m setting the house up to look like we’re going to have a party,” said Lamkin as he leads a guest into a front dining room. A stunning, Italian-made red glass chandelier hangs over a table setting. Bottles cool in an ice bucket next to a tray of cheesecakes. “It’s fake cheesecakes, fake ice cubes,” says Lamkin with a laugh. “It’s so people get something more to look at than just the pretty room. They kind of get a sense of what it’s like to live here.”

While Lamkin and Niemi raised 10 adopted children, all now adults, the house is filled with antique furniture, estate sale finds and art collected from around the world. Every room has been restored and remodeled — some multiple times.

“My philosophy is: A good house is never done. You’re constantly upgrading,” said Lamkin.

Highlights of the “Highpoint” home tour include:

• A grand staircase with a wraparound wall mural inspired by a Jean-Léon Gérôme painting, “The Carpet Merchant.” The mural was commissioned by Lamkin and Niemi as an homage to the Silberstein family, the home’s original owners who operated an early 20th century Duluth department store.
• A recent kitchen renovation with new cabinets designed to match the one remaining original piece. The table and chairs are coated in 1950s chrome and the walls are covered with a vintage cherry-themed wallpaper find.
• A basement laundry room turned upside down, walls lined with dozens of paintings and prints from Niemi’s overflowing art collection.
• A walk-out deck overlooking Lamkin’s immaculate gardens uses a long-gone Duluth school building architectural element as a centerpiece.
• Upstairs bedrooms display African art work, wonderful antique bedspreads and a carpet from the old Silberstein and Bondy department store on Superior Street.

“I think people will be happy to see it all,” Lamkin said. “It should be a fun day.”

While the tour offers sneak peaks inside beautiful homes, it also features repurposed buildings that were once busy public places.

The Duluth Public Library headquartered its operations inside a Carnegie library building from 1902 to 1980. When the current library opened on Superior Street, the old library was converted into office space. Accend Services, a social service provider, purchased the historic property in 2013.

Accend Services Executive Director and property owner Michael Clevette said his wife and business partner, Tammi Henderson, talked him into buying the building when the company needed more office space.

“I love the building, I love old buildings and so we took the leap,” he said.

Tax credits that come with properties on the National Historic Register helped finance some major improvements. Clevette has added a lift, tuckpointed the building exterior, fixed the roof and refurbished the amazing dome that soars above the main lobby. Book stacks have been replaced with office space but many original architectural features remain like the grand marble staircase, decorative metal gates, 20-foot-tall ionic columns, intricate tile floors and a beautiful entryway chandelier.

“It’s hardwired and I haven’t figured out where I can find the switch to turn it on and off,” said Clevette. “So it’s on 24-7.”

Historic photos hang on the walls including one that documents the custom-built, all-wood library circulation desk. Clevette said the desk was saved but fell into private hands. “It would be so nice to get it back,” he said. “It’s apparently sitting in a shop somewhere. It’s just a shame that it’s gone.”

Perhaps the old circulation desk could be put back in service. As the city discusses the future of its current library building, Clevette has heard talk of it downsizing and relocating back into the old Carnegie space. “That would be fine with me,” he said.

Accend Services no longer fills the building as employee numbers shrink in the wake of government funding cuts. Clevette has listed a pair of suites for lease. “We’re smaller as an organization and so many people are working remotely now,” he said. “It’s a great building to work in, if you ask me. I like it.”

Melton said the tour was established years ago to give participants ideas — like leasing an office inside a historic building or improving a bathroom using original fixtures or restored materials.

“(The tour) is in part a celebration. We’re lucky to have so many amazing historic spaces in our community,” she said. “But it’s also designed to inspire … The mission of the Duluth Preservation Alliance is to inspire and educate and so our tour is designed to do just that as well.”

Ticket information can be found at duluthpreservation.org.