History
Video Archive: George W. Bush’s ‘Iron Ridge’ Gaffe of 2004
Twenty years ago today — July 13, 2004 — President George W. Bush spoke at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Arena to a crowd of about 8,000. He was campaigning against Democratic challenger John Kerry. In reference to Minnesota’s Iron Range, the President mistakenly said he appreciated “the good folks from Minnesota and the Iron Ridge.”
The Wreck of the Adella Shores
On April 29, 1909, the Adella Shores was bound for Duluth with a cargo of 9,200 barrels of salt. The ship never arrived. Disappearing in a gale off Whitefish Point, Michigan, the location of the 195-foot wreck remained one of the lake’s unsolved mysteries. But the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum has found it. (more…)
Postcard from Park Point Bathing Beach
This undated postcard from Kreiman’s Lyceum News & Book Store sports an illustration of Park Point in the vicinity of South Tenth Street, referred to as “Tenth Ave.” on the front of the card. The 72-degree temperature is cited as proof Duluth is “the air-conditioned city.” (more…)
Saturday Essay: Paved Paradise
Oh, good. There are some open spaces in the lot, so I won’t have to go rogue and park illegally next to the dumpster. With six garbage bags of clothes to donate, I’d been worrying I’d have to hoof them, biceps trembling during multiple trips, for a block or more.
I give an appreciative mental pat to the convenient parking lot with its open spaces. Well done, little lot. My lazy biceps thank you for your service.
Sliding into a space a hundred yards from the door, I turn off the car and sigh, bracing myself. Okay, now where do I go with these donations? (more…)
Mystery Photo: Duluth’s Saddest Family
For sale on eBay under the header “RPPC Duluth Minnesota Melancholy Mother with Children Real Photo Postcard c1910” is this photo of a rather unenthusiastic-looking foursome. The postcard is from the Owl Studio in Duluth. (more…)
Bryan Cranston’s Tribute to WWII Veteran Jack Moran
Actor Bryan Cranston, son of two World War II soldiers, tells the story of U.S. Army soldier and Superior native John “Jack” Moran, who courageously fought in the Battle of the Bulge. The video is from the 2024 National Memorial Day Concert, broadcast by PBS. (more…)
Duluth’s bowery was already historic in 1907
Previous posts on Perfect Duluth Day have explored the history of the Fifth Avenue West corridor. Urban renewal in the 1960s attempted to “clean up” blighted areas of town. A recent research dive revealed that the bowery was already targeted for “renewal” as early as 1907.
“End of once notorious section is in sight” proclaimed one of the sub-headlines. That part of town has had many ups and downs over the years. (more…)
Postcard from the Car of the Aerial Bridge
This undated postcard from the V. O. Hammon Publishing Company shows Duluth’s Aerial Bridge circa 1905 to 1929, when a ferry car transferred people across the shipping canal.
Above & Below: The rise, fall, and rise of the Duluth underground
The July 2004 issue of Twin Cities monthly magazine The Rake included a feature on the Duluth music scene. The Rake existed from 2002 to 2008 and its archives, including the Duluth article, are available online. The text of the now 20-year-old story also appears below, with images from the magazine. (more…)
Postcards from the “Three Spot”
Featured here are postcards of Duluth & Iron Range Railroad locomotive No. 3, known as “Three Spot.” It has been on display at the D&IR Depot in Two Harbors since 1923. (more…)
Ripped at Ray’s Bar in 2004
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a visit to Ray’s Bar in the Town of Superior and composed this article for the June 2004 issue of the Ripsaw magazine. The establishment was more recently known as the Shortstop Bar, but is presently not in operation.]
About a year ago, I took a little tour of South Superior where, after wiping his piss on my neck, the drunken bartender at the Rusty Nail advised me to head down the road to Ray’s Bar. “Ray will shit on you for sure,” he said, inadvertently describing South Superior hospitality to a tee.
Now I didn’t exactly just fall off the turnip truck. I know some people are into that sort of thing, and I’m sure a lot of them haunt the thickets of South Superior. But as for me, I’m not much for excrement. Nonetheless, when faced with the choice of dealing with the Paris Hilton wannabes and renegade security guards at the latest version of the NorShor Theatre or wrestling with a psychotic South Superiorite wielding his own crap, I’ll head out on the highway every time. (more…)
100 Years of Intercity Highway, or Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 1 monument at 66th Avenue West and Westgate Boulevard. (Photos by David James)
A monument a couple blocks north of I-35 in the front yard of a quiet residential neighborhood commemorates the upcoming opening of Minnesota Trunk Highway No. 1. It was erected on June 13, 1924, 100 years ago today. A recent post on this site featured a photo describing a campground along this Highway, which led to a brief discussion of just what this Highway 1 was and what became of it. (more…)
Greetings from Duluth
This undated postcard, published by Cartwheel Company of St. Paul, shows five images of Duluth circa perhaps the early 1980s. (more…)
The Slice: Blake Romenesko’s Lake Gossip
Blake Romenesko talks about the new Twin Ports history zine Lake Gossip, the first edition of which tells the quirky story of Duluth ice houses.
In its series The Slice, PBS North presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Mystery Photo: Miss Norton
No fewer than five pennants hang on the wall in the photo on this undated postcard. Three are illegible, but one clearly indicates someone is a fan of Duluth. Another pennant represents the Withee Farmers Market of either 1912 or 1913. Withee is a village in Wisconsin, about 140 southeast of Duluth. (more…)
Build a Goddamn Bob Dylan Statue Already
For real, I think there needs to be more serious discussion about a Duluth Bob Dylan statue. He’s the (checks notes) greatest songwriter in the world (the Nobel Prize people compared him to Homer and Blake), and Duluth is his (checks notes again) literal birthplace. Where did I read — perhaps buried in the epic comments of this PDD Facebook post — that local/regional Dylan relatives disfavor statues, as opposed to a nice plaque or something? An MPR article cites “a Dylan family member” who states a preference for educational work instead. I get it. But Dylan must have dozens of relatives, did we ask them all? Do we have to ask any of them, since Dylan belongs to the world?
I also get that statues are falling out of favor and may become problematic. The meaning of a statue can change. Maybe it would be better to just name a street, or a music center, or erect a plaque — something you can quietly change up or take down in a hurry if history reverses on you. But respectfully, I worry that plaques and manhole covers are simply too boring to honor the greatest songwriter in the world besides Taylor Swift.
You think Taylor Swift will only get some nice manhole covers? You think they won’t build a statue in her hometown by the time she’s Dylan’s current age of 82? (more…)
Postcard from the St. Louis County Courthouse in 1924
This postcard was mailed June 1, 1924 — 100 years ago today. It shows the St. Louis County Courthouse in Downtown Duluth, which opened in 1909. (more…)
The Final Resting Place of Private John Matthew McGillis
Left: Private John Matthew McGillis, photo courtesy of Jasper van Kampen. Right: His burial place (Photo by Matthew James)
John Matthew McGillis, known to his family on Duluth’s Park Point as Jack, died on Christmas Day 1944, one day before the end of major fighting in the final German offensive of World War II. He wasn’t a combat soldier. (more…)
The Will and the Way
Judy Gibbs introduced me to The Will and the Way series of books about the creation of a number of Duluth institutions. (more…)
Postcards from Passage Island Lighthouse at Isle Royale
This undated postcard, published by the E.C. Kropp Company, shows Passage Island Lighthouse and the rugged shore at Isle Royale on Lake Superior. (more…)
WDSM 10 p.m. News Final: Walt Jensen and Don Wright
This 1964 newspaper clipping, for sale on eBay, shows Duluth television newscasters Walt Jensen and Don Wright at the WDSM-TV anchor desk.
WDSM was Duluth’s first VHF television station, launching in black and white on March 1, 1954. Color broadcasts started in 1965. In 1974 the call letters were changed to KBJR.
Train Day at the Depot
Saturday was National Train Day. The Depot was hopping, and I loved it. Picture of a very cool train set below. (more…)
Harley Race proposed to third wife on a drive to Duluth
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Season five, episode five, of the Vice-TV documentary series The Dark Side of the Ring delves into “The Life and Legends of Harley Race,” a world champion professional wrestler whose early career included a run in the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association. At the 13-minute mark in the episode, Race’s third wife, Evonna Hedbávný, tells the story of Race proposing marriage on a trip from Minneapolis to Duluth in the early 1960s.
Apparently, even the toughest guy in the rasslin’ business can’t resist the romance of Duluth.
Mystery Photo: Little Rufus Milne in 1894
This cabinet card photo is marked “Rec’d May 5, 1894.” It’s not entirely clear what received might specifically refer to here, but with some confidence we can say this photo is at least 130 years old and someone received it precisely 130 years ago. (more…)