History
Postcard from an Outbound Freighter
This undated postcard from Zenith Interstate News Company shows a freighter exiting the Duluth shipping canal into Lake Superior. (more…)
Video Archive: Duluth Missabe and Iron Range Railway, 1961
This 1960s-era film by Bruce Ward shows Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railway 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone locomotives on excursions around and out of Duluth.
Video Archive: Norway’s royal couple given stirring welcome
Although Crown Prince Olav and Princess Martha of Norway did visit Duluth in 1939 for the dedication of Enger Tower, the footage in this silent film seems to all have been shot in Los Angeles a month earlier. Nevertheless, images of Duluth News Tribune stories are splashed across the screen at the start of the film. (more…)
Curley the Trapper brings body of scurvy victim through Duluth
One hundred years ago today a Duluth native completed his mission to recover the body of a former Duluth man who died of scurvy deep in the woods of Manitoba. (more…)
Douglas County Historical Society Museum circa 1949
The postcards shown here were sold at the Douglas County Historical Museum circa 1949. Above is the pioneer kitchen display at the museum. (more…)
Last Rites of John Defoe
One hundred years ago today the Duluth Herald reported on military honors given to John Defoe, who the paper credits as “the first American Indian who fell in the World war to be returned to his native land for burial.” (more…)
PDD Quiz: Duluth Parks II
Test your knowledge of Duluth’s western parks in this week’s quiz! As with the previous quiz on Duluth parks, Tony Dierckins’ and Nancy S. Nelson’s Duluth’s Historical Parks: Their First 160 Years was an indispensible resource. Historical images from the Kathryn A. Martin Library’s Northeast Minnesota Historical Collection were accessed through the Minnesota Digital Library, another excellent resource for local history buffs.
The next PDD quiz, reviewing this month’s headlines, will be published on April 25. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by April 21. (more…)
Postcard from the Passenger Steamer South American
This undated postcard, published by Zenith Interstate News Company, shows the Steamer South American on Lake Superior. It was built for the Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company and launched as an overnight passenger ship on Feb. 21, 1914. A fire in 1924 required the upper works of the vessel to be rebuilt, resulting in the addition of a second smokestack, which is shown on the postcard. (more…)
Duluth’s longest mayoral term started in 1921
On April 5, 1921 — one hundred years ago today — Samuel Frisby Snively was elected mayor of Duluth. He held the office for four terms spanning 16 years. Duluth has had two three-term mayors who served for 12 years, John Fedo and Gary Doty. (more…)
Amtrak wants to return passenger service to Duluth with funding from Biden’s infrastructure proposal
Amtrak’s North Star parked at the Duluth Depot, July 19, 1981. (Photographer unknown)
It’s been 36 years since Amtrak ended its 10-year run of passenger service from the Twin Cities to Duluth. This past week the company, which provides medium and long-distance service in the contiguous United States and nine Canadian cities, announced a vision for up to 30 new routes, including a return to Duluth … if Congress passes President Joe Biden’s $2-trillion infrastructure proposal. (more…)
Mystery Photos: Mr. and Mrs. Peter Anderson
Someone was kind enough to write the names of these love birds on their photos and keep them together. But who are Mr. and Mrs. Peter Anderson? (more…)
Postcard from Miller’s Cafeteria
Miller’s Cafeteria in Duluth’s Medical Arts Building, 320 W. Superior St., has a convoluted origin story that was explored in the comments to a Perfect Duluth Day Mystery Photo in 2014 and in the Duluth News Tribune “Relics” column “An old place mat holds memories of downtown cafe,” in 2019. From those works we learned the cafe became the Captain’s Table in 1959 and closed in 1972. (more…)
Commercial Cafe opens under new management in 1921
This advertisement in the March 29, 1921 Duluth Herald promotes the reopening of the Commercial Cafe at 10 N. 20th Ave. W. in what is now Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The location is probably where DLH Clothing is operating a retail store today, although all businesses in that building use the address 12 N. 20th Ave. W.
Postcards from the Duluth Civic Center
Duluth’s Civic Center includes the St. Louis County Courthouse (1909), Duluth City Hall (1928), Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building (1930), St. Louis County Jail (1923) and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1919). (more…)
Duluth Soo Line Depot
Duluth’s Soo Line passenger depot opened at 602 W. Superior St. in 1910. It was designed by C. E. Bell, Tyrie and Chapman of Minneapolis in the Romanesque style. The depot closed in the 1960s and was torn down in 1972. (more…)
Postcard from Little Two Harbors
This undated postcard from Duluth Photo Engraving Company shows Ellingson Island at Little Two Harbors, the bay best known for its views of Split Rock Lighthouse.
Duluth Concert Archive: Blue Oyster Cult in 1977
From the archives. Were you in attendance? Also, does anyone know where/what Samahdi Sound was in Ashland?
Postcard from the Leif Erikson Statue and Viking Ship
This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows two Duluth relics. The bronze Leif Erikson statue was placed in 1956 and remains on display at Leif Erikson Park. The 42-foot Leif Erikson Viking Ship Replica was built in Norway in 1926 and sailed to Duluth, arriving on June 23, 1927. It was displayed in Leif Erikson Park until 2013, when it was placed in a warehouse until funds are raised to build a display structure to protect it from weather.
Mystery Photos #131-136: The Duluth Polka Dots?
This contact print of photo negatives comes from Ben Marsen, who many years ago acquired a collection of negatives of scenes from around Duluth. (See Mystery Photo #125 for more info on that.)
Marsen doubts he still has the negatives, so we have to squint a bit and work from the contact strip. Who are these musicians? (more…)
Greetings from Superior National Forest
This collection of old postcards depicts scenes from the Superior National Forest, 3.9-million acres of woods and waters in northeastern Minnesota’s “Arrowhead Country.” (more…)
Selective Focus: The Old West End
Photographer Nik Nerburn (previously on PDD) has just published a book of photos and stories following the last few years of transformation in Duluth’s West End, more recently and commonly known as Lincoln Park. We get a sneek peek at a few of the images in the book.
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John Rudd turning a complete somersault on skis
As documented on this old postcard, Duluthian John Rudd is credited as having performed the first somersault on skies. It happened at Chester Bowl, then known as Chester Creek Hill. (more…)
Postcard from Twin Points Resort
This undated postcard, from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography, shows an aerial view from Lake Superior of Twin Points Resort in the Silver Creek Township northeast of Two Harbors. The area is now known as Iona’s Beach Scientific and Natural Area. (more…)
Video Archive: Johnny Heartless joins Bone Appetit
Twenty years ago today — Feb. 16, 2001 — a mysterious guitar player emerged from the audience at the NorShor Theatre to join Duluth band Bone Appetit for a rendition of the Judas Priest song “Living After Midnight.”
Ye Olde Duluth Train Stations
Random collection of Duluth train station postcards. (more…)