History
Six Century-old Postcards from Duluth
Not much is known about the six postcards featured here, but they all have appeared in recent eBay sales by LL Vintage Antiques of St. Paul. They are collected in this post simply because they are of a similar style and are cards that haven’t appeared on Perfect Duluth Day before. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #14: The Last of the Transporter Bridges
Germany’s Osten-Hemmoor Bridge with a postcard of Duluth’s transporter bridge in the foreground. (Photo by Matthew James; postcard from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University Archives)
Growing up in Duluth, I often heard that the lift bridge was the only bridge of its type in the world. I later learned that the world is full of lift bridges. Wikipedia lists 137 of them. But that doesn’t mean the claim isn’t true. The lift bridge was once a transporter bridge, a far more rare type of bridge. Aside from various hand-cranked bridges that basically amount to art projects, fewer than two dozen transporter bridges have ever been built anywhere in the world. Only eight of those are still in use. And the world only has one converted transporter bridge in operation: Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge. This Duluth Deep Dive takes a closer look at what Duluth’s bridge was like before its conversion by recounting my visit to two of the world’s remaining transporter bridges. One is the closest surviving counterpart to Duluth’s original canal bridge. The other gives a sense what the Duluth bridge might have looked like if the city had modernized the gondola instead of making the conversion to a lift bridge. (more…)
The S.S. Meteor Placemat
Found at a thrift store in Webster: a packet of 50 paper placemats promoting tours of the SS Meteor in Superior.
Duluth looked best on paper in 1906
Some harsh criticism from a postcard sender 120 years ago.
Postcard from Bird’s-eye View of Duluth Post Office in 1916
This postcard was mailed Feb. 23, 1916. It shows the beginnings of the Duluth Civic Center, with the old Duluth Post Office at the center. (more…)
Ripped at the Red Lion in 2001
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the drunken compendium of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty-five years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a Valentine’s Day visit to the legendary Red Lion Bar in Duluth, and composed this article for the Feb. 21, 2001 edition of the Ripsaw newspaper. The ol’ “Roar by the Shore” closed in 2007 and is now the location of Zeitgeist Arts Café.]
So, it’s Valentine’s Day and here I am at one of my favorite watering holes, the Red Lion — the fucken Roar by the Shore. By all standards, this is not supposed to be the day to get ripped out of my godforsaken gourd. This is supposed to be the day to wear pink and purple, eat a whole helluva lot of candy and watch Richard Gere movies. I ask you this: Could there be a better day to puke your guts out?
The Red Lion is always awesome; it doesn’t matter if it’s full of pathetic drunks or young hip-ocrites slumming with Black Labels (the beer or the band). Either way, it’s full of my favorite folks on earth. Tonight it seems to be a good mixture of wasted middle-aged sots and good-looking lesbians: Yes, these are my people. (more…)
Postcard from Lincoln Park in 1916
This postcard showing a scene from Lincoln Park in Duluth has a handwritten message on the back dated Feb. 13, 1916. It is postmarked on Valentine’s Day. (more…)
Bathing girls frolic in Chester Park snowdrift
As an addendum to the “High spots from West Duluth Day at the 1926 Winter Frolic” post we present this digitally enhanced photo from the cover of the Feb. 11, 1926 Duluth Herald. It appeared in the paper with the headline “Bathing girls frolic in Chester Park snowdrift.” (more…)
High spots from West Duluth Day at the 1926 Winter Frolic
Oh, those frolicsome West Duluthians. The Feb. 11, 1926 Duluth Herald offers a slew of photos from West Duluth Day of the annual Duluth Winter Frolic. The neighborhood programming ran from 1 to 10 p.m. on Feb. 10, but Winter Frolic events were not exclusive to West Duluth that day. Other happenings included “stunts” in the downtown streets, hockey games at the Amphitheater and Curling Club, an ice carnival at the Curling club, and the Frolic Ball of the College Women’s Club at the Duluth Armory. (more…)
Ektachrome Postcard from the Aerial Lift Bridge
This undated postcard, perhaps circa the 1960s, offers a view of the Aerial Lift Bridge from across the Duluth Harbor. The card was published by the H.C. Wick Company and features an Ektachrome photo by Rod Peterson. (more…)
Mining and Smelting Iron of Minnesota’s Mesabi Range in 1926
If this footage looks familiar, it might be because Perfect Duluth Day previously featured a condensed version of this film. The 16mm Time Machine YouTube channel offers the version above, which has an additional four minutes of content. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #13: Henry C. Richardson, Civil Rights Pioneer
A Black man, left, crosses Superior Street circa 1908. (Source: Library of Congress)
In 1904, more than 50 years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, Henry Richardson fought against the common practice in Duluth restaurants to refuse service to people of color. When a waitress at a Superior Street restaurant would not take his order, he took the restaurant owner to court. This Duluth Deep Dive recounts the events and their aftermath. (more…)
Souvenir Folder of Duluth circa 1923
The Duluth Photo Engraving Company published a “souvenir folder” in the early 1920s featuring images previously published by the company as postcards. (more…)
St. Louis County Historical Society Strategic Planning Survey
The St. Louis County Historical Society is in the discovery phase of a major strategic planning initiative. The goal is to transform how the organization preserves more than 13,000 artifacts, stabilizes operations and ensures its storytelling is inclusive. A new community survey is designed to offer feedback to shape the society’s new mission and strategic goals for the next three to five years. (more…)
Postcard from Superior Street at Fourth Avenue West
This undated postcard shows buildings on the 300 block of West Superior Street in Downtown Duluth. The building in the foreground is the St. Louis Hotel, which was demolished in the early 1930s and replaced by the Medical Arts Building. The trio of buildings to its left — the Torrey, Alworth and Lonsdale buildings — are all still standing.
The postcard was published by the Duluth Photo Engraving Company with an image from McKenzie Photo Company.
Wonderfully Rapid Growth of Duluth
The Cosmopolitan published an article about Duluth on Jan. 19, 1871 — 155 years ago today. It was during the period when the Duluth Ship Canal had been partly dug, so all shipping traffic to that point either went through the Superior Entry between Minnesota and Wisconsin points, or docked at the breakwater built on Duluth’s outer harbor. (more…)
Then and Now: Denfeld High School
This aerial photo comparison shows Denfeld High School as it looked in 1947 and in 2025. The building first opened in 1926 — 100 years ago — and has seen several additions since then, including a gynasium wing in 1987 and a science wing and common area in 2011. The athletic stadium on campus saw a major renovation in 2002 when a new grandstand was built and the natural grass was replaced with artificial turf. (more…)
Postcard from the Kitchi Gammi Club in 1916
This postcard was mailed Jan 12. 1916 — 110 years ago today. It shows the Kitchi Gammi Club building at 831 E. Superior St., which opened two years prior. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #12: Ads from the Archives
Duluth Evening Herald, June 18, 1909; Sept. 5, 1899; Oct. 31, 1908.
While putting together the Duluth Deep Dives, I often come across ads in the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub that I find amusing, surprising, well-designed or a direct reflection of the historical period. When I see one of these ads, I make a clip and put it aside in a folder. In what seems likely to be a reoccurring topic, this Duluth Deep Dive goes into those files to present 20 somewhat remarkable ads. (more…)
DuluthiLeaks: MacArthur Elementary PTA Budget for 1979-80
For the seventh edition of DuluthiLeaks — Perfect Duluth Day’s series in which public documents are presented as if they contain secret information leaked from an anonymous whistle blower — we present the Laura MacArthur Elementary School Parent Teacher Association’s proposed budget for the 1979 to 1980 school year.
Postcard from St. Mary’s Hospital circa 1904 to 1911
This postcard, published by the Rotograph Company of New York City and printed in Germany, shows St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth. The card has no postmark, but Rotograph’s postcard operation ran from 1904 to 1911. (more…)
Ernie Nevers pro football debut was exhibition game in 1926
On Jan. 2, 1926 — one hundred years ago today — Willow River native and Superior Central High School standout athlete Ernie Nevers made his pro football debut in an exhibition game in Jacksonville, Florida. He represented the Jacksonville All Stars in a much-hyped game against Red Grange’s Chicago Bears. (more…)
Original Chester Bowl warming house opened at end of 1925
The Jan. 2, 1926 Duluth Herald reported on the recent opening of a warming house at Chester Park, one month ahead of the national ski tournament held there. A new chalet was built at the ski hill in 1972. It was named the Thom Storm Chalet following Storm’s 2015 retirement as Chester Bowl’s director. An expansion and renovation project for that chalet is planned for later this year.
A Texan from out near Duluth, Minnesota
The World War II film A Walk in the Sun premiered Dec. 25, 1945 — 80 years ago today. A song early in the movie mentions Duluth. (more…)
Looking out from Enger Tower circa 1965
This uncredited photo shows a view of Duluth from Enger Tower looking out over Observation Hill to the downtown and waterfront. It is dated 1965. (more…)