History
Every Photograph of the Minnesota Point Lighthouse
These three photographs of the Minnesota Point Lighthouse show slightly different perspectives.
For all but 19 years of its existence, the Minnesota Point Lighthouse structure has stood as ruins. The dilapidated tower has been photographed innumerable times, and anyone could visit it today and shoot as many pictures as desired. But very few photos seem to exist of it as a functioning lighthouse. The prevailing theory is that there are only four. (more…)
Our Changing Relationship to Lake Superior, 1975-2025
If you would like to learn more about Duluth, Lake Superior, and the Edmund Fitzgerald, I highly recommend this collection of essays I edited last year. It features contributions from Catherine O’Reilly, Joseph M. Lane, Jennifer E. Moore, Timothy Broman, Chance Lasher, Robert Dewitt Adams, Luke Moravec, Moira Villiard, Anastasia Bamford, Nan Montgomery, Sheila Packa, Krista Sue-Lo Twu, and Jennifer Brady.
Postcard from the DM&IR Ore Docks
This undated postcard, published by the H. C. Wick Company, features an Ektachrome photograph of the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range docks in West Duluth, circa perhaps the late 1950s. (more…)
Ticket to Ride the Duluth Incline
The Duluth Incline Railway made its first climb up Duluth’s hillside from Superior Street to Eighth Street on Nov. 4, 1891 — 135 years ago today. It was a test run before opening to the public on Nov. 14.
There’s still at least one ticket available to ride the incline, even though it ceased operating in 1939 and was long ago removed. It is for sale on Etsy(opens in new tab) for $37.99. (more…)
Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907, Part 8: The West Side of the Lyceum Building
This eighth part of the extremely detailed exploration of a single photograph looks at the people who decided to put their names on their office windows on the side of the Lyceum Building. It describes the lives of two doctors whose stories connect to the present day and a lumber baron who supplied the timber that built many of the region’s early railroads.
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Postcard from Duluth’s Harbor Entrance
This undated postcard was published circa the 1950s by the Dunn-Nordin Postcard Company of Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota. It offers an illustrated depiction of the Duluth Ship Canal. (more…)
Miss Genevieve Grant: Modern American Venus
America’s “classical example of feminine loveliness” appeared on the front page of the Duluth Herald on Oct. 26, 1936 — 90 years ago today. Duluth’s own Genevieve Grant had been named “Modern American Venus.” The accompanying page 18 news story also notes Miss Grant is “a blood relative of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, Civil war general and later president.” (more…)
Postcards from the Duluth YMCA
Featured here are five postcards showing the former Young Men’s Christian Association building at 302 W. Second St. in Downtown Duluth. Designed by Frederick German and Leif Jenssen of the German & Lignell architectural firm, the brick-and-stone landmark was built in 1908 to serve as the city’s central YMCA. As the Y transitioned its spaces over the years the building served other community functions before it was razed in 1974. It’s the current location of the St. Louis County Government Services Center parking ramp. (more…)
Postcard from the Breathtaking Duluth-Superior Hi Bridge
This undated postcard, published by Northern Minnesota Novelties, shows an aerial view of the John A. Blatnik Bridge connecting Duluth to Superior. When it opened on Dec. 2, 1961, it was named the Duluth-Superior Bridge and has been known colloquially as the “High Bridge” throughout its existence, though the name was often rendered as “Hi Bridge” in the bridge’s early years. It was named for Congressman Blatnik on Sept. 24, 1971. (more…)
Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907, Part 7: The Odd-numbered Side of Superior Street and Fifth Avenue West
Superior Street in 1907 (Photo from the Library of Congress)
Part seven of this ten part series examining a single photo in depth looks at the businesses on the odd numbered side of Fifth Avenue West and Superior Street. It looks at the group of stores that were replaced by the Holland Hotel and reveals their direct connection to that hotel. It also looks at the stores occupying the ground floor of the Lyceum Theater and explains why the lit up sign across Fifth Avenue appears to say “See the Welcome.” (more…)
Postcard from the Rustic Bridge at Lester Park
This undated postcard of the rustic bridge and pavilion on the Lester River in Duluth was published by the Tom Jones Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, which was active from about 1900 to 1917. The cedar bridge was built in 1898. The ravages of weather limited its life. The upper deck was removed in 1916, and the lower deck was removed in 1931.
Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad: Tracking the Original Line from Thomson to New Duluth, Parts 3 and 4
Part three of the Minnesota Bricks series mapping the original route of the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad covers the area from the Minnesota Power’s Thomson Hydro Station to the Fond du Lac neighborhood of Duluth. Part four briefly covers the short segment from Fond du Lac to Commonwealth Avenue in New Duluth.
Video Archive: KDLH-TV 1986 Weekend News Clip
This KDLH-TV evening news clip is from Sunday, Sept. 21, 1986 — 40 years ago today. It includes the famous segment on Duluth punks that appeared on Perfect Duluth Day in 2015, along with a follow up report on the aftermath of the American Spirit ’86 Road Rally. (more…)
American Spirit Road Rally started and ended in Duluth in 1986
Jim Liautaud stands by his 1963 Ferrari on Sept. 20, 1986, outside Grandma’s Saloon & Deli. (Photo by Dave Ballard for the Duluth News-Tribune & Herald, from a microfilm version of the newspaper)
With a nod to The Cannonball Run, a popular movie from 1981 starring Burt Reynolds, the drivers of 27 high-performance sports cars once raced through Hibbing, Ely and other cities along a 320-mile course that started and ended in Duluth. The American Spirit ’86 Road Rally took place on Sept. 20, 1986 — 40 years ago today. (more…)
Postcard from the Railroad Yards in Duluth
This postcard shows the railroad yards on Rice’s Point in Duluth circa the very early 1900s.
Postcard from the Steamer Rotarian Landing at Fond du Lac
This undated postcard shows the passenger boat Rotarian docking at Fond du Lac on the St. Louis River. (more…)
Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907, Part 6: Gidding’s Department Store
This series takes a detailed look at life on Superior Street on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 11, 1907. The first part of the series provided background details on a photograph shot that day where the street intersects Fifth Avenue West. The parts that followed have gone section by section down south Superior Street, identifying the different businesses that appear in the photo. Part six looks at a single business with a sign that is just barely legible in the far distance: Gidding’s Department Store.
My initial search results for the Gidding Department Store all came up with a shop that used to be on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, suggesting that Gidding’s was a national chain out of New York with a Duluth branch. The opposite is actually true. It was a chain that started in Duluth and ended up opening a store in its own building on the most fashionable street in Manhattan. This post looks at the key role that Florence Gidding, the wife of owner Jacob Gidding, played in starting a high end department store in Duluth. It also reveals where her maiden name can be still be found in downtown Duluth. (more…)
Postcard Greetings from Duluth in 1966
This postcard was mailed Sept. 3, 1966 — sixty years ago today. It features a scene from Skyline Parkway overlooking Downtown Duluth, with Lake Superior, the Aerial Lift Bridge, Minnesota Point and the Duluth Harbor as the focal points. (more…)
Postcard from a Government Boat at Duluth
This postcard was mailed 100 years ago today — Aug. 31, 1926. It’s not clear what the big deal was on Duluth’s waterfront that summer, but we can confidently say a bunch of people gathered around a “government boat.” (more…)
Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad: Tracking the Original Line from Thomson to New Duluth, Part 2
Part two of the Minnesota Bricks series mapping the original route of the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad passes through hilltops overlooking the dalles of the St. Louis River near Oldenburg Point at Jay Cooke State Park, at times following Minnesota State Highway 210 but also passing through wooded terrain where numerous trestles once bridged the route over ravines.
Duluth-area Payphone Remnants
This mid 20th-century payphone and 1996/97 directory are housed in a wooden booth inside the Wieland Block, a Downtown Duluth commercial office building. The phone doesn’t work; it’s on display as antique decor.
The premiere issue of Unsalted magazine includes an article about the quest to find Duluth’s last pay telephone. The conclusion (spoiler alert) is that there is probably not a single public phone left in Duluth that accepts coins, and the last one that did was probably the one on the main floor of the Duluth Public Library, which purportedly took in its final coins in early 2020. (more…)
Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad: Tracking the Original Line from Thomson to New Duluth, Part 1
This video from Minnesota Bricks is part of a series exploring the original route of the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad along the St. Louis River. The series covers the section from the Town of Thomson to Commonwealth Avenue in New Duluth. (more…)
Then and Now: Downtown Duluth from Observation Hill
Shot 60 years apart, these two photos offer a similar perspective of Downtown Duluth and the hillside as viewed from Observation Hill. The angles of the shots are far from a perfect match, so the buildings don’t all line up properly and the jagged points of Lake Superior’s shoreline get flattened out in the 2025 shot, but the images do allow for some comparisons to be drawn — the most obvious being the 18-story Essentia Health St. Mary’s Medical Center building that opened in 2023. (more…)
Postcard from the Leif Erikson Statue in 1966
The message on the back of this postcard was written on Aug. 19, 1966. The photo on the card shows the Leif Erikson statue in Duluth’s Leif Erikson Park. The statue has been in the park for 70 years, having been placed in 1956. (more…)