History
Tiny Titanic
A Proctor family uncovered a surprising connection when buying a house — it had belonged to Anna Larsen, a survivor of the Titanic disaster. Jason and Kim Seguin’s son Jaxson was obsessed with the Titanic and so Jason, an experienced metalworker, decided to build his own scale model of the ship and put it in their front yard.
This feature was produced and edited by Silver Brook Township’s Mike Scholtz for the southwestern Minnesota Pioneer PBS series Postcards. It aired Feb. 17
Video Archive: Superior’s Old Firehouse & Police Museum Tour
This video tour of Superior’s Old Firehouse & Police Museum was given by one of its founders, Leonard Rouse, in the early 1990s. The station closed Oct. 4, 1982 and later became a museum. The video was shot by Tad Matheson.
Postcard from the St. Louis County Courthouse at Night
This undated postcard features a nighttime image of the St. Louis County Courthouse, which opened in 1909.
Mystery Photo: Alice
This special Valentine’s Day Mystery Photo comes from the Duluth Public Library, where it was found in an office after one of the librarians retired. The photo is dated Oct. 28, 1918 and comes with a message of love on the back. (more…)
Postcard from Duluth, St. Lawrence Seaways Westerly Terminus
This undated postcard, published by Northern Minnesota Novelties of Crosslake, Minn., offers a nice pre-freeway aerial view of Downtown Duluth on it’s upper image and a shot of the Aerial Lift Bridge and shipping canal on the lower side. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Drag Racing on Lake Superior
Allouez Bay in Superior was recently the scene of a stock-car racing event called NASCAR on Ice, which might have seemed like a newish idea, but … the undated photo above has a handwritten message on the back that reads: “Taken on Lake Superior. Duluth in distance. Thousands on ice at time of races. A new sport. 24 in. of ice at time.” (more…)
Bob Mason with the save in 1982
This 40-year-old press photo shows University of Minnesota Duluth goalie Bob Mason about to make a save at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. It is credited to Star Tribune photographer Cletus “Pete” Hohn. (more…)
Postcard from a View on Duluth’s Hillside
This undated postcard shows Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge, ships on the lake, the Duluth Arena-Auditorium, parts of the Downtown and Canal Park areas and more circa perhaps 1980 or so. (more…)
A Bit More about Helen Futter
A reader has sent some information about Helen Futter, the subject (I think) of some thoughts I’ve had about record collections, midcentury media, and pop culture. (See here, here, here, here, and here.) Generally, reflecting on what (I think) was Helen’s record collection, donated by her estate to Gabriel’s Books in Lakeside, I treated her like a “typical teen,” listening to records on her “Victrola.” (more…)
Red pennants make sliding safe for kids at street intersections
An update to the post “Sledding Duluth’s Avenues in 1921“:
By 1922 it was determined that the safe thing to do is hang red pennants to warn drivers about popular sledding intersections. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Carl Thiel Cabinet Card
The identity of the woman in this photo is almost certainly lost to history, but on Perfect Duluth Day it’s always worth trying. What we know about this photo is the photography studio it came from and roughly when it was shot. (more…)
Postcard from a Scene in Fairmount Park
This postcard depicts a scene in Fairmount Park where Kingsbury Creek flows under the Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway bridge in West Duluth. It’s not clear if the postcard predates the 1923 opening of the Duluth Zoo, now the Lake Superior Zoo, just downstream of the location shown. The bridge is still there, now part of the DWP multi-use trail. (more…)
Duluth history used to illustrate white privilege on Netflix show
In the new Netflix series Colin in Black & White, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick serves as the narrator for his own story of growing up in California’s Central Valley with white adoptive parents. At the very beginning of the third episode, a modified version of a photograph taken at the 1920 lynching of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson, and Isaac McGhie in Duluth is used as part of a montage explaining the concept of white privilege. (more…)
Matchbooks from Superior-area Restaurants and Bars
One year ago Perfect Duluth Day published a collection of “Matchbooks from Duluth Restaurants and Bars.” Now we honor the neighboring city of Superior, and the rest of northwestern Wisconsin, with a collection of matchbooks from Superior-area restaurants and bars. (more…)
Postcard from a Typical Lumber Camp in Northern Minnesota
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Jan. 18, 1912. It depicts a “typical lumber camp in northern Minnesota.” (more…)
From the Dizzo Archives: Last Place on Earth
Aside from being an occasional radio show host, I’ve always fancied myself a bit of an archivist. Some will say hoarder, but I’ll keep saying archivist. I attended the Last Place on Earth auction in Superior last weekend hoping to find some local treasures. I’m mostly a music and clothes collector so I was excited to see there was plenty of both. (more…)
Postcard from the Duluth Yacht Club
The Duluth Yacht Club was organized in 1890 and incorporated 1905. It’s facilities were on Minnesota Point at South 14th Street. (more…)
Ferocious Finn falls to Polish strong boy in 1922 mat tussel
It was 100 years ago today that Henry Karhunsaari, “the Ferocious Finn of Virginia,” was knocked unconscious in the deciding fall of what Duluth Herald sportswriter Sandy MacDonald called “the most spectacular and most fiercely contested wrestling match ever staged in this city.” (more…)
Postcard from a Bird’s Eye View of Duluth
This undated postcard photo of Duluth’s Downtown and Central Hillside area must have been shot from Point of Rocks, probably in the very early 1900s. (more…)
Duluth’s Emerson School
Emerson School, located at 1028 W. Third St. in the Observation Hill area of Duluth’s Central Hillside neighborhood, opened for classes 130 years ago today — Jan. 2, 1892. The school closed circa 1982 and became apartments. The building was purchased by the Emerson Tenants Cooperative in 1994. (more…)
Postcard from Duluth’s Shipping District
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Dec. 26, 1911. John Sisco of Scottsdale, Penn. was the recipient.
Not much is recognizable in this view of the western downtown area and waterfront. The steeple of Sacred Heart Cathedral still stands today at Sacred Heart Music Center. The Board of Trade Building is now Board of Trade Lofts. What other structures in this postcard have stood the test of time? (more…)
Roy Halvorson: Christmas Tree King
From the December 1957 issue of Flying magazine, “the world’s most widely read aviation magazine,” comes the story of Duluth’s Roy Halvorson, “Christmas Tree King.” (more…)
Postcard from the Wilbert in Cotton, 1961
The Wilbert Café was founded in 1922. This postcard bears the year 1961. The modern day version of the Wilbert is located at 9105 Highway 53 in Cotton — about 30 miles northwest of Duluth.
The Duluth News Tribune profiled the Wilbert in 2018, noting it “gets its name from its original owners, combining the first names of William Lyman and Bert Robinson. In 1941, John (Tobie) Lackner took over management after William Lyman’s death, and Tobie and his wife, Ann, went on to establish the famed Tobies Restaurant and Bakery in Hinckley, Minn. … The current Wilbert was rebuilt in 1991, and it was purchased in 2004 by longtime employee Sandy Simek and her husband, Steve.”
Lyceum Theatre, 1961
This photo of Duluth’s Lyceum Theatre is dated Dec. 17, 1961, and credited to Clarence Sager. It shows just a portion of the large building at 423-431 W. Superior St., which was demolished in 1966. (more…)
It Happened Right Here: Duluth & the Iron Range
This short documentary, written and produced by Dale Bluestein for the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest‘s series It Happened Here, delves into the early history of Jews in the Duluth area, starting with the arrival of newlyweds Bernard and Nettie Silberstein in 1870.