History
Bob Dylan’s Spirit Mountain Adventure
Bob Dylan arrived in Duluth for a holiday ski party at Spirit Mountain on Dec. 20, 1975. The ski hill had just opened one year prior. (more…)
Postcard from ‘Our Little Home’ in Duluth
This postcard was mailed 115 years ago from Duluth, and therefore presumably shows a home in Duluth that might still be standing. (more…)
Save Time and Money: Read as You Ride
These photos of Duluth Streetcar 166 were purchased recently on eBay from a reseller who didn’t know anything about them or the other Duluth transportation photos in the lot. This one above is labelled with the time 2 p.m., date 10/27/30 and the initials ETM. (more…)
Postcard from a Bird’s Eye View of the West End in Duluth
This postcard of Duluth’s friendly West End was mailed 115 years ago today — Dec. 8, 1910. The recipient was Mrs. Joseph Lindquist of Kerkhoven, Minnesota. The perspective is from the Point of Rocks at West Fourth Street, looking southwest. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #11: When the Hollow Concrete-Block Building Boom Came to Duluth
Left: Cover of the 1908 catalogue for the Miracle Pressed Stone Company of Minneapolis; Right: The first hollow concrete-block house in Duluth. (Sources: The Minnesota Digital Library; The Duluth Evening Herald, Feb. 3, 1906)
A few months ago a friend of mine from elementary school moved into a house on Park Point. When he asked me to help look into its history, we learned he had purchased the first hollow block concrete home ever built in Duluth, and one of the oldest still standing in Minnesota. This Duluth Deep Dive looks at the start of the hollow concrete-block building boom in Duluth and where it led. It describes the links between local concrete homes and the Duluth shipping canal. It also challenges the claim that Duluth had the first concrete streets in Minnesota. (more…)
Postcard from the Duluth Carnegie Library
This undated postcard, published circa 1910, shows the Carnegie Library in Downtown Duluth at 101 W. Second St. The building was designed by Edwin S. Radcliffe and Charles Willoughby Adolph Rudolf. It opened in April 1902, serving as Duluth’s main library until 1980. Since then it has functioned as an office building.
Grassfires: An Old Duluth Tradition
If my memory is to be trusted, this bookmark was given out to Duluth public school students circa 1980. That’s how the one shown here would have landed in my possession. Maybe someone from the fire department was a guest speaker at Laura MacArthur Elementary and passed them out. (more…)
Then and Now: Cathedral and Marshall
This aerial photo comparison shows Duluth Cathedral High School circa 1970 and the same campus in 2025 as Duluth Marshall School. (more…)
Duluth-area Hockey Pin-back Buttons
With hockey season well underway, we’ve pulled out the hockey-related buttons from Perfect Duluth Day’s larger button collection. (more…)
The inaugural Christmas City of the North Parade was in 1961
Debate about when the first Christmas City of the North Parade happened has been rekindled numerous times since 2008, when KBJR-TV promoted the 48th annual parade as the “50th annual.” That year Andrew Krueger, then a copy editor at the Duluth News Tribune, set the record straight, digging through newspaper archives that strongly suggested, but maybe didn’t definitively prove, the parade was first held in 1961.
KBJR, then and now, points to 1958 as the first year of the parade.
It is finally time to set aside unreasonable doubt. The short version of the story is this: Krueger was correct. The first Christmas City of the North Parade was held Nov. 17, 1961. (more…)
Gas Freighter Elvina
The November 1910 issue of Power Boating magazine included a photo from the Duluth Ship Canal.
The caption reads:
Elvina, a 53-foot gasoline freighter, “beating it” out of Duluth harbor on her way to Cornucopia, 40 miles across Lake Superior, which she makes back and forth every day in the season. With 40 tons of freight and passengers, as shown in the photo, she makes ten miles an hour. Her power plant equipment is a four-cylinder, Campbell, 40-horsepower machine.
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.