Paul Lundgren
Mystery Photo #41: Family Portrait from the Zweifel Studio
Quick internet searches indicate John Rudolph Zweifel was a Duluth-based photographer from the very late 1800s to the mid 1900s. He had a few different offices on West Superior Street and was in the Phoenix Building circa 1918-’20. His home was at 4231 McCulloch St.
Who are the round-faced darlings in the photo? Well, that’s the Hail Mary pass being thrown here for the hell of it, just to see if anyone can figure it out.
Where in Duluth? #152
Time for another installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation. Where in Duluth was this shot taken?
Sixteen Years on the Superior Hiking Trail: Swamp River to Cascade River
Digital cameras existed in the year 2000, but it wasn’t until about 2003 that using one became mainstream. I started my quest to complete the Superior Hiking Trail with a cheap 35mm pocket camera and a roll of black and white film … perfect for capturing lush fall colors. A grand total of four photos were taken during this five-day hiking trip.
By contrast, I have 35 photos and three videos from a five-minute window when I finished my hike in 2015. So the world has changed a bit. I worked for a newspaper then, I work for a website now. The World Trade Center buildings stood then, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum stands now. Time marches on at a faster pace than my hiking boots, apparently. My first trip covered nearly 60 miles of trail, however, and that’s not too shabby. Unfortunately, things slowed down after that.
On the sunny afternoon of Sept. 23, 2000, my friend Jeff and I drove the winding way of Highway 61 to Grand Portage. It’s not a place that is necessary or practical to go when seeking the start of the Superior Hiking Trail, but it’s a fun location to stop and look out over Lake Superior while there’s time to kill on the day before the adventure begins. (more…)
When Spirit Mountain had a pool
Spirit Mountain did away with its swimming pool in 1984. It was probably a maintenance nightmare, and the notion of a pool on a hill overlooking the tributary to the world’s largest freshwater “pool” might be considered a little absurd in retrospect.
Trust me, though. It was fun while it lasted.
Iff you vill come to Duluth ve vill lock up all de cops
Similar to the “Vilkome to our city of Duluth” version, this is another “Dutch Kid” pennant postcard, popular from about 1900 to 1920. The same cards were produced for various cities across the country. (more…)
Postcard from the Boulevard Around Duluth, Minn.
It’s difficult to read the names on this postcard dated July 13, 1907, so the transcript will represent them with blanks.
____ and I are having a glorious time. Took a beautiful drive this a.m. and saw this very spot. Be good till we get home.
_____
Sixteen Years on the Superior Hiking Trail: Preparations
At some point in the 1990s, I started hearing about the Superior Hiking Trail, a new footpath designed for hikers to see the sexiest peaks and rivers in the wilderness along the North Shore of Lake Superior. It didn’t come up very often in conversation until the year 2000, which is when it began to annoy me that I had never hiked a speck of it — other than maybe wandering away from the waterfalls at Gooseberry and noticing markings that told me I was on the not-yet famous trail I’d been hearing about.
It was April 2000 when an upstart Duluth newspaper called the Ripsaw began publishing weekly and I stepped up to be its managing editor. The paper had a weekly “Adventure” article and I suddenly found myself around people who had taken on parts of the SHT and heard stories about a handful of souls who had through-hiked the whole thing, which at the time meant trekking from Two Harbors to the Canadian border.
There was a rumor going around that Dusty Olson ran the whole trail in two days, which I found almost but not quite believable. The notion that such a feat could be close to true at least led me to think I could do it in fewer than two weeks. Then I heard the first documented person to conquer the trail had a fused spine and partially paralyzed legs, and hiked with forearm crutches. That made it hard for me to make any excuse that I wasn’t physically up to the task. (more…)
Job opening: Save the PDD Calendar editor from going batty
Are you ready to make slightly above minimum wage with no benefits while working in your pajamas at home? Then Perfect Duluth Day needs you. Running the PDD Calendar is sucking the life out of the editor and his previous assistant has too much collegiate stuff to deal with at the moment. So here’s a rare opportunity to get inside the PDD media empire. Read the full job description on the PDD employment page.
Wolvin Building in Duluth, Minn.
The Wolvin Building was constructed as the general offices of the Pittsburgh Steamship Company in 1902. It is shown here as a six-story building, but in 1909 an additional three stories were added. It still stands today as a nine-story building at 227 W. First St., known since the 1970s as the Missabe Building. (more…)
Fairyland Park near Marble, Minnesota
This undated postcard depicts “Alice in Wonderland,” one of more than 30 scenes from favorite fairytales at Fairyland, a roadside attraction that operated from 1948 to 1972 just west of the village of Marble, about 80 miles northwest of Duluth. Pretty much anything one might want to know about Fairyland can be found on a PDF compiled by Tim Wick, son of Melvin and Faith Wick who bought the park in 1960. (more…)
Sixteen Years on the Superior Hiking Trail: Introduction
The yearning for adventure is a pretty common human trait, along with the practical good sense to not get into a situation you can’t handle. The old Scout Motto is “be prepared,” a creed intended to make one think practically and plan ahead for potential disaster. There’s a colorful expression for those who are not ready for life’s misfortunes; they find themselves “up Shit Creek without a paddle.”
Not wanting to drift helplessly in liquid feces, people often put off serious adventure and plan to check their dreams off a “Bucket List” at some point between the impractical now and the day before it becomes physically impossible. When a Bucket List goes as planned, it’s a beautiful thing. More often than not, of course, it ends up being a list of unfulfilled wishes. That’s generally preferable to premature death in pursuit of pretty scenery, so lament accordingly.
There are also those perfect people in the primes of their lives, dressing up in expensive wingsuits and gliding majestically down from the world’s most spectacular cliffs. Are they the sons and daughters of the obscenely wealthy or did they persuade a gear manufacturer to sponsor them? Maybe both. Don’t be jealous. You probably wouldn’t take that leap if you could. I know I wouldn’t. (more…)
The Hillsider newspaper returns, along with former GM/editor
The Hillsider, a nonprofit neighborhood newspaper aimed primarily at the Central and East Hillside of Duluth, will resume publishing in October, according to general manager and editor Naomi Yaeger.
Yaeger is returning to The Hillsider after a five-year stint as editor of the Duluth Budgeteer News. She previously served The Hillsider from May 2006 to January 2011.
“I miss journalism so bad. I miss being out there and just pulling everything together,” Yaeger said. “I enjoy listening to people and hearing their stories and I enjoy telling other people those stories in an accurate way. … I have a passion to do this.” (more…)
Mystery Photo #41: Bonnie Gardens
Specific location unknown. Photographer unknown. Everything unknown. Help if you can.
A Dock at Duluth Where the Ore-fleet Coals
Iron-ore freighters load with coal to fuel their steam engines in 1909.
Postcard from the Lobby of the Hotel Holland
The Holland Hotel stood at 501-503 W. Superior St., where the Radisson Hotel Duluth-Harborview operates today.
Marketed as “the only fire proof hotel” in Duluth, it included the Holland Cafe, “famous for its service, soda fountain, light luncheons and grill room.”
The Holland opened in 1910 and closed in 1961. The Radisson was built in 1970. (more…)
Where in Duluth? #150
Time for another installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation. Where in Duluth was this shot taken?
Old Grand Marais Photos
A collection of old Grand Marais photos. At least some of them, if not all, are believed to be shot by Milford John Humphrey. (more…)
Duluth Mountain Biking for Beginners and Kids
A friend asked me last week where beginners should go for a good first-time mountain biking experience in Duluth.
“I want good views — not afraid of some hills — but nothing crazy where I would have to be an expert,” she said.
I don’t mountain bike, so I can’t answer the question … or maybe that makes me the perfect guinea pig for an experiment. Anyway, a quick search of the internet seems to suggest Lester Park has a good “easiest” trail. Is there a middle-aged klutz out there who can endorse the Lester experience as a good trail for a first-time mountain biker? Or is there somewhere better suited to persons of limited balance?
Perspective Map of Duluth in 1893
Similar to the “Perspective Map of Duluth in 1887,” but more recent and from a bit different angle.
Then and Now: St. Louis County Courthouse
There is no date on the above postcard image, but it appears to be 1960s-ish. The photo below is a modern-day view. (more…)
Where in Duluth? #148
Time for another installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation. Where in Duluth was this shot taken?
DTA Woodland Windjammer, Crosley Clipper, et. al.
The quest is to settle a bet. Whether there’s enough evidence so far to settle it will have to be up to the wagerers.
Former Duluthian Daniel Heinan, now living in Los Angeles, sent the following email:
My friends don’t believe that there was a DTA bus line called the Woodland Wind Jammer. There was even the Crosley Clipper. They existed in the 1980s and early 1990s. Can you help me prove them wrong?