History
United in Service: Military History from America’s Northland
From the courageous Native American Code Talkers of World War II to the dedicated members of the 148th Fighter Wing, the PBS North documentary United in Service offers a poignant exploration of what it means to serve. This compelling documentary shines a light on the diverse experiences of individuals who have answered the call to duty, preserving their invaluable stories for generations to come.
Music Making History: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
One of Gordon Lightfoot’s most important works was “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Written shortly after the shipwreck of the same name, the song comforted many, became a chart-topping success at the time, and nearly 50 years later it has found a place in popular culture and social media. The song also served as the inspiration for former Split Rock Lighthouse keeper Lee Radzak to start the annual beacon lighting to honor the crew.
This episode of the Minnesota Historical Society’s series Music Making History reflects on Lightfoot’s work, the way he responded to the families of the crew, and how the song has centered community gatherings honoring those lost at sea.
PDD Quiz: Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald
This edition of the PDD Quiz explores how the region has commemorated the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald.
A review of this month’s headlines comes your way on Nov. 30. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Nov. 27. (more…)
Postcard from Spirit Lake in Duluth
This postcard might have been mailed 100 years ago today. The year on the postmark has worn out over time, but is clearly from the 1920s and seems most likely to be 1925. The date is Nov. 8. The image shows a view of Spirit Lake on the St. Louis River from the shores of Duluth in the Morgan Park neighborhood. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #10: The Life, Work and Legacy of Edwin Samuel Radcliffe, Early Duluth Architect
A blog post on the history of Keller Row in St. Paul notes that not much is known about its architect, Edwin S. Radcliffe, who spent most of his career in Duluth. This Duluth Deep Dive counters that assertion by providing the most complete record of his life and works available online. It uses articles from the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, reports by the Duluth Heritage Preservation Commission, and Tony Dierckins and Maryanne C. Norton’s book Duluth’s Grand Old Architecture to not only look at the buildings he created, but how his life and work intersected with important, surprising and trivial events in Duluth and Minnesota history. It includes stories of churches, schools, department stores, an Indigenous boarding school, a saloon and a brothel, along with an interactive map of all his known buildings. It also recounts the known events from Radcliffe’s life, including his participation in the Blueberry War of 1872, his patent on a device to make bathrooms less smelly, and the massive community card games held in his Park Point home. (more…)
Then and Now: Nopeming Sanatorium
The above aerial photo comparison shows changes spanning roughly 80 years at the 40-acre site of the Nopeming Sanatorium in Midway Township, just outside Duluth. (more…)
Minnesota Power & Light Substation Fire of 1925
The 1925 fire at the Minnesota Power & Light Substation was not necessarily a particularly significant moment in Duluth history — the Duluth Herald offered just a simple photo and caption for its coverage — but the internet does not contain many photos of the building, so this fuzzy newspaper image has some moderate historic value.
The fire occurred on Oct. 25, 1925 — 100 years ago today. (more…)
Iron Country: Iron Ore and Minnesota’s Future (1955 Film)
This supremely cheesy 70-year-old promotional film explains the importance of mining through actors portraying a group of people chatting in the dining hall at the Minnesota State Fair.
Duluth appears briefly at the 7- and 21-minute marks. (more…)
Postcard from the Minnesota Point Lighthouse Ruins
This postcard was mailed 115 years ago. It shows the ruins of the Minnesota Point Lighthouse, which ended its run as a functional lighthouse in 1885. The faded postmark on the card is from February 1910. (more…)
The 100 Block of East First Street in Duluth Circa 1928
All of the buildings in the foreground of this century-old photo are still standing, though at least one of them is likely to be demolished soon.
The image is estimated to be from the year 1928 because it features the Duluth Costume House at the center of the frame, and newspaper archives indicate the business moved to the other side of the street in March 1929. The business had been at its original location since 1923, but the vehicles in the image suggest 1928 or later. (more…)
How Julann Griffin invented Jeopardy! on a flight out of Duluth
A trip to Duluth led to the development of the television game show Jeopardy! A recent episode of the podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz recounts the music and sound effects of the show and includes the historic tidbit about the role Duluth played in its creation story.
The mention comes around the 2-minute mark of the episode titled “The Music of Jeopardy! From a Lullaby to $100,000,000,” which is embedded above. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #9: The Third Largest City in Minnesota
The population of Duluth, Bloomington, and Rochester over time (Source: U.S. Census Data)
A recent YouTube video on Duluth restaurants described Duluth as the third-largest city in Minnesota — a statement that has been true at various points in the state’s history. Since Minnesota became the 32nd state in 1858, Minneapolis and St. Paul have consistently been its two largest cities. Third place, however, has been considerably less stable. This Duluth Deep Dive takes a closer look at the cities that have held the #3 spot, using aerial images to show how these cities have developed over time. (more…)
Postcard from the Duluth Children’s Museum and Art Center
This undated postcard shows the Duluth Children’s Museum at 1832 E. Second St., its home from 1936 to 1975. The house was built in 1902 for Archibald Mark Chisholm, the namesake of the city of Chisholm. He discovered the mine there at the turn of the 20th century and laid out the townsite. (more…)
Minnesota Historia: The Laurentian Divide
The Laurentian Divide is a continental divide that crosses some of Minnesota’s most stunning landscapes. But what does one do with such a geographical gem? Mine it? Ski it? Or build a tourist attraction on top of it? (The answer is all three.)
Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink-Ziebol and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.
Leta Powell Drake Compilation: The Notorious L.P.D.
Duluth native Leta Powell Drake began her broadcasting career at KDAL-TV after graduating from Morgan Park High School in 1956. She went on to host and produce more than 10,000 TV shows at KOLN/KGIN-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska.
She could be … shall we say … a little bit blunt. As a result, clips of her celebrity interviews have become popular on the internet in recent years. And for a double-dose of Duluth, the montage above includes an exchange with Telly Savalas, star of the classic “Duluth, who loves ya baby?” TV spot of 1984. (more…)
Minnesota Historia: The Leif Erikson Viking Ship
Minnesota Historia talks to 107-year-old Lilly Haldorson, who remembers the day the Leif Erikson sailed into Duluth’s Harbor in 1927. The ship was named for the famous Viking explorer, but its captain, Gerhard Folgero, was an unforgettable character in his own right.
Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink-Ziebol and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.
Postcard from St. Mary’s Hospital
This undated postcard, circa the turn of the 20th century, shows St. Mary’s Hospital at 404 E. Third St. This was Duluth’s second St. Mary’s building; the first was in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. The Third Street building opened in 1898. It was demolished in 1967 and replaced by a new wing of the expanding hospital.
Later known as St. Mary’s Medical Center, it merged with the Duluth Clinic in 1997 to form the SMDC Health System. Miller-Dwan Medical Center joined in 2001. The system became Essentia Health in 2004. Its network now includes hospitals, clinics and other health-care facilities throughout Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
Original Hibbing Memorial Building opened in 1925
The Hibbing Memorial Building opened 100 years ago today — Sept. 18, 1925 — as a memorial to veterans of World War I. It included a hockey rink, eight curling rinks, a bowling alley, an auditorium and veterans’ club quarters. It was destroyed by fire in 1933 and rebuilt in 1935. (more…)
Minnesota Historia: Judy Garland’s Minnesota
Judy Garland is known around the world for her role in The Wizard of Oz. But few know about her life in Minnesota. Minnesota Historia visits the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids to explore her childhood and return visits to the state.
Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink-Ziebol and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.
PDD Quiz: Back to School
Hit the books for this edition of the PDD Quiz, which tests your knowledge of Duluth school buildings that have been adaptively reused as dwellings. For more information on historic Duluth schools, check out this PDD post and the Minnesota Digital Library, both of which were invaluable resources for this quiz.
The next PDD Quiz, on Sept. 28, will cover this month’s headlines. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Sept. 24. (more…)
Postcard from the Lyceum Theatre in 1915
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Sept. 14, 1915. The Lyceum Theater opened for performances at 423 W. Superior St. in 1891 and became a movie house in 1921. It was demolished in 1966 and replaced by the KDLH-TV studio. The KDLH building was demolished in 2015 and replaced by the Maurices headquarters. (more…)
Duluth 75 Years Later
[Editor’s note: Duluth was featured in The Saturday Evening Post in a 1949 article written by Arthur W. Baum. Seventy-five years later, in 2024, Baum’s great-great nephew, Jordan Haedtler, began gathering his thoughts for an update, which appears below. Haedtler has recently printed both essays, as well as another essay about Duluth and climate change, in a book that can be ordered through Google Forms.]
The citizens of nearly every hub city or port city or twin city must look at this moment of rapid planetary warming ponderously. Many seaside cities worry anxiously at their fate amidst rising oceans, while tourist destinations fret about the damage to their core infrastructure, and bustling business hubs nervously eye the economic forecasts. This makes the case of gritty and resilient Duluth — with its aging housing stock dotting a hillside overlooking the western terminus of the Great Lakes — unique.
For Duluth has not had to wonder about its role in the climate crisis or desire outside attention on the subject since April 15, 2019. That was the day Harvard professor Jesse Keenan came to the city to deliver a lecture called “Destination Duluth,” in which Keenan emphasized the potential for Duluth, sitting as it does on the edge of all that fresh water, to rebrand itself as “Climate Proof,” attracting new residents after decades of economic stagnation. (more…)
Minnesota Historia: Minnesota’s Deep Connection to Bigfoot
From the Seven Grandfathers Teachings to the She-Squatchers, Minnesota’s love for Bigfoot runs deep.
Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink-Ziebol and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.
Duluth Deep Dive #8: The Duluth Herald, Sept. 7, 1925
A classified ad from the Duluth Herald on Sept. 7, 1925. It’s not clear if anyone took up the offer on the grocery store.
Perfect Duluth Day often features individual stories from historical newspapers. This Duluth Deep Dive looks at the whole paper, adding context where necessary to the notable stories from a single edition of the Duluth Herald published one hundred years ago today, including a massive Klan rally in southern Minnesota, arrests by the Duluth Purity Squad, and highlights from the film, sports and classifieds listings. (more…)
Minnesota Historia: Bronko Nagurski
Bronko Nagurski is celebrated in International Falls with his own museum and a giant statue. He’s considered one of the greatest football players who ever lived. And the Car Talk guys mentioned his mellifluous name every chance they got. But what did he think about all this attention?
Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.