Postcard from the Famous Aerial Bridge
This undated postcard of Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge appears to be circa the 1960s, but perhaps there is a clue in there somewhere to narrow the date down.
This undated postcard of Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge appears to be circa the 1960s, but perhaps there is a clue in there somewhere to narrow the date down.
One hundred years ago there were far fewer cars on Duluth’s streets, but it was still considered dangerous to sled down the city’s steep avenues. So Duluth Police Chief Warren E. Pugh surveyed the city and selected a few recommended avenues that posed “the least danger to life and limb,” according to the Duluth Herald of Nov. 22, 1921.
The bridge over Kingsbury Creek in West Duluth that was washed away in the Historic Summer Solstice Flood Disaster of 2012 has been replaced. A new snowmobile trail has been cleared that runs across the bridge and snakes through the hillside south of Interstate 35, roughly from Keane Creek to Knowlton Creek, at times crossing the Superior Hiking Trail.
This undated postcard of Duluth’s Lyceum Theatre does not appear to have been mailed, though it does have a message on the back.
Get ready for self-referential blabber and Perfect Duluth Day shop-talk galore. Yours truly, Paul Lundgren, is the guest on the sixth episode of the For the Love of Duluth podcast.
Tom Jamison, a former lawyer turned local business owner, started the podcast in August as a passion project. Yvonne Myers is co-host and Lauren Wells handles the techy stuff. The focus is on Duluth art, culture, food, beer and natural amenities.
This 70-year-old article from the Wausau Daily Herald, published Nov. 17, 1951, serves as a reminder that before Duluth had its parade and “Christmas City” song, a Wisconsin city more than 200 miles to the southeast had already branded itself the “Christmas City of the North.”
This postcard was mailed on Nov. 13, but the year on the postmark is blurred so we’re going to estimate it was about 80 years ago.
The American Fur Company began trading on the St. Louis River at Fond du Lac in 1817 and continued until 1847. A replica was built as a tourist attraction in 1935, and that’s what is depicted in the postcard image. The replica was demolished in the late 1960s.
Whether it’s Ten November, Eleven November or Any-day November, it’s no surprise when the gales roll in, yet it’s always eye opening. Waves crashed along the shores of Lake Superior today causing flooding in downtown Grand Marais. Collected here are select photos from Instagram showing the raw power of the big lake they call gitche gumee.
Is it art? A descent into madness? Or just a scrap of paper with some notes on it, dropped on the sidewalk at the corner of Third Avenue West and Superior Street?
In addition to the parade in Downtown Duluth, Armistice Day of 1921 featured two big football games. The Denfeld High School eleven traveled to Coleraine to play for the northern section championship, while the Duluth Kaycees hosted the Minneapolis Marines to determine the state’s professional championship. But the hilarity of the day occurred three miles outside of Floodwood.
This old photo, titled “1940 DULUTH Children in Front of Home DEPRESSION ERA Photo (198-N)” popped up on eBay recently.
Max Skeleton led “The Funeral March for Rotten Ideas” down Superior Street last night. Four marionettes were in the parade, all created by local artist Mary Plaster, who founded Duluth’s All Souls Night event. The 17-foot tall Max Skeleton, created along with artist Chris Lutter of Minneapolis, is operated by hand-pushed gantry and five puppeteers on the ground. It is largest marionette in Minnesota.
There generally isn’t a lot to say about a good hike, nice weather and beautiful scenery. They are enjoyable, but they don’t help create a classic story one tells his friends about and sits down to record in an essay. Good stories involve things not happening as planned. Something must go very wrong, very right or very strange to have a good story. If someone shows up in green underwear, for example, it at least provides the foundation.
So before I write about the numbers and geography of my hiking, let me assure you that green undies are coming up.
If you’ve been following along on my North Country Trail in Wisconsin series, you know I’m slowly hiking 214 miles across the Badger State. I started in 2017 and as of this writing have completed 65 miles, taking my sweet time.
In the summer of 2020 I hiked from Pattison Park to the edge of the town of Gordon and ended part four of my essay series there. I thought I was done for the year, but just a few days after publishing the essay I headed back to Gordon for one more trek.
This undated postcard shows the 500-foot Steamer David Z. Norton loading 3,000 bushels of wheat in the Duluth Harbor. Note the postcard has “J” as the middle initial of David Norton. That is presumably a misprint. David Zadock Norton was a director of the American Ship Building Company and the namesake of the ship.
Instagram is aglow with northern lights photos from last night, thanks to a little solar storm activity. It was less than a month ago when Perfect Duluth Day previously featured auroras in “Selective Focus,” but the show last night brought out practically every sky photographer in the region.
