History
Northeastern Minnesota Nomenclature: How Duluth-area cities, townships, lakes and rivers were named
One hundred years ago, the Minnesota Historical Society published a 735-page book by Warren Upham outlining the history behind the names of Minnesota municipalities and bodies of water. (more…)
Postcard from the Loneyville Motel
This undated postcard, published by the Elton H. Gujer Company, promotes the Loneyville Motel at 7717 Congdon Boulevard, a half mile northeast of Brighton Beach in Duluth. It’s the present-day location of North Shore Cottages. (more…)
Selective Focus: Community Mural at the CJM Memorial
Visual artist Moira Villiard organized a mural project at the Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial as part of a day of creative expression on Monday, June 8. People were invited to add to the images she created of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and a raised fist. The activities also included interviews of black, indigenous and people of color on the topic of police brutality. The interviews will be used in a documentary produced by DanSan Creatives. June 15 marks 100 years since the lynching of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Issac McGhie in downtown Duluth for a crime they didn’t commit. (more…)
E. Rose’s Boot & Shoe Bazaar of Duluth
This Victorian trade card promotes E. Rose’s Boot and Shoe Bazaar, a Duluth retailer of Burt’s Fine Shoes. Info on the store isn’t easy to come by, but a pair of newspaper ads found after this post was initially published indicate the store was open from 1882 to 1886. (more…)
Virtual Field Trip: Lester River Fish Hatchery
For this report we turn to our junior news team at Raleigh Edison Charter School.
Postcard from the Steamer Easton
This undated postcard from the V. O. Hammon Publishing Company shows the Steamer Easton in the Duluth Harbor. The image can be roughly dated between 1905 and 1917. (more…)
Duluth’s Empress Theatre
The building that has been home to the Electric Fetus music and gift store since 1987 was once a theater. From 1903 to 1911 the Bijou Theatre operated at 12 E. Superior St. until it was renamed the Empress Theatre. It burned in 1915, but the structure survived and was converted to retail. (more…)
Gold Mine Camp on the Vermilion River in Buyck
Buyck is about 100 miles north of Duluth. Presumably this 1940s-era photo depicts cabins at what is the modern-day fishing and hunting camp that bears the name Gold Mine Camp.
Louis Oreck: Dealer in Curios
The business card above touts the goods for sale at Louis Oreck’s Curios store in Downtown Duluth circa the 1910s: souvenirs, American Indian crafts and mineral specimens. (more…)
PDD Video Lab: 1963 Duluth Footage
For this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve once again taken a silent film from Dominic Chione’s archive — this one from 1963 — and paired it with music by Duluth/Superior’s own Jerree Small. The track is “60 Words for Water” from the 2004 album Mobius.
Watch for a nice cameo appearance at the 1:30 mark by the old Sky Room Restaurant at the Buena Vista.
PDD Quiz: Duluth’s Architectural Details
Can you identify some of Duluth’s historic architecture based on decorative details (and a few hints)? Quiz on to find out!
The next PDD quiz will test your knowledge of May 2020 headlines; it will be published on May 31. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by May 27. (more…)
Documents from the Northeastern Minnesota COVID-19 Community Archive Project at UMD are now live
History is being written today.
Documents from the Northeastern Minnesota COVID-19 Community Archive Project at the University of Minnesota Duluth are now live. More information about the project can be found at lib.d.umn.edu. If you would like to learn more, including information on how to submit, please check out the research guide.
This is a great resource, including art by UMD colleagues and friends.
Postcard from Mesabi Open Pit Iron Mine in Virginia
This undated postcard shows scenes from the Mesabi Iron Range, the largest of four iron ranges in northeast Minnesota. The card uses a spelling more often associated with a roadway in Duluth — Mesaba Avenue. (more…)
W9MMS Duluth
Nerds will explain this in the comments.
Video Archive: Buying Pot in Duluth in 1972
In this 1972 clip from WDIO-TV, reporter Stu Stronach enlists cameraman Mark Ryan to buy an ounce of marijuana on Fourth Avenue West and Superior Street.
Ethan Freel transferred this film to video and added the music.
Postcard from Glenn Rock in Duluth
Remember when all of Duluth’s houses were pink? It was back when we all lived in the land of make-believe known as the illustrated postcard era.
So, what was “Glenn Rock”? (more…)
Postcard from a Foreign Vessel at the Aerial Lift Bridge
This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography depicts a “foreign vessel going under famous Aerial Lift Bridge,” according to the caption on the back.
PDD Video Lab: Starbelle and the Aerial Lift Bridge
In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we watch the bulk carrier Starbelle pass through the Duluth Ship Canal and under the Aerial Lift Bridge via footage from Richter Home Movies. The final 15 seconds features a nice look at Canal Park circa the early 1960s. (more…)
Mystery Photo #105: October House
These two buildings still exist in Duluth, in slightly altered form. They are significant for different reasons. One of them is one of the oldest standing buildings in Duluth.
What are they currently used for? What was the October House? Hint: A baker named Bergetta Moe was involved at one point.
Apple Man: Duluth’s Depression-Era Action Hero
Reconstructed by the Richardson Bros. from records at the St. Louis County Historical Society
Full text below.
Someone’s got it
I was reminiscing of the olden days of Duluth, way back in 2001, where on First Street you could get a roast beef sandwich on a European Bakery roll for a dollar at Fichtner’s butcher shop.
I feel certain that the recipe for that roast beef a) is simpler than I expect and b) won’t translate to the home oven — that the secret was a 30-pound chunk of beef, sliced, sitting in hotel pan in the window for hours.
Anyway, if anyone has the recipe, please share.
PDD Video Lab: Old Iron Range Footage
In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we take a cruise through Virginia, Chisholm and Hibbing circa the 1960s with footage from Richter Home Movies set to the tune of Iron & Wine’s “Weary Memory” from the 2002 album The Creek Drank the Cradle.
Postcard from Duluth’s Lighthouse Lot in Canal Park
This undated postcard from the Gallagher Studio of Photography shows the parking lot near the Duluth Shipping Canal, which is known as the Lighthouse Lot.
The caption on the back of the card reads:
Canal Park in Duluth, Minnesota
Westerly Terminus of the St. Lawrence Seaway
Sylvester’s Downtown Duluth Store
Something to keep your mind busy today … Does anybody remember a store in Downtown Duluth in the 1990s named Sylvester’s? What did they sell and where was it located?
Duluthians shed tears openly at news of Roosevelt’s death
President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office on April 12, 1945, after a massive intracerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63. Shown here is how it was reported in Duluth. (more…)