History
Mystery Photo #54: Jerry and Becky, August 1970
Just because this old photo was stored with a bunch of Duluth pictures doesn’t necessarily mean it was shot in Duluth or features Duluthians. Still, the odds are pretty good someone will recognize Jerry and/or Becky. They looked like pretty cool customers back in August 1970, that’s for sure.
Were they Duluthians? Are they still Duluthians? Who are these hot-rodding sweethearts? All the back of the photo indicates is their first names and the month it was shot.
Denfeld vs. Central: 1922 Football Stalemate
Duluth’s Jay Sonnenburg found these 1922 photos among his grandfather’s collection. They depict scenes at Athletic Park in West Duluth, where Duluth Central and Denfeld did battle on the gridiron. (more…)
Duluth: A Year ’round Playground
Promotional brochure from back in the day. Click the image to view it at a readable size.
Duluth vas dere best
Here is yet another “Dutch Kid” pennant postcard, similar to “I hafe a feller in Duluth,” “Mit best wishes from Duluth,” “Vilkome to our city of Duluth” and “Iff you vill come to Duluth ve vill lock up all de cops.”
Because nothing illustrates Duluth exceptionalism better than a postcard gimmick where the same cards are distributed in various places with different city names printed on the pennant, right? (more…)
DuluthiLeaks: Historic Bridge Report for DM&IR Ore Dock No. 5
How historically significant is West Duluth’s old ore dock and its viaduct and bridges? The Minnesota Department of Transportation retained the consultant team of LHB, Mead & Hunt and 106 Group to produce a multi-purpose study in 2014 that was part of a more comprehensive process involving numerous agencies looking at 140 historic bridges. Part of the goal of the “Local Historic Bridge Report” for the “DM&IR Ore Dock No. 5 Approach” was to gather historical information should the property owner — Canadian National Railway — wish to request a nomination be prepared for the National Register of Historic Places.
For the third edition of DuluthiLeaks — Perfect Duluth Day’s feature in which public documents are released as if they contain secret information leaked from an anonymous whistle blower — we peak into a study of four steel-beam bridges that are part of the mile-long approach to DM&IR Ore Dock No. 5. (more…)
Video Archive: Denfeld Class of 1992
Break out the Aqua Net and backward baseball caps, we’ve dug deep into the video vault to bring you a little “DHS VHS.” Yes, it’s the full and glorious one-hour and 13 minutes of the clumsily titled Duluth Denfeld Senior High School Class of ’92 Senior Class Video, compiled by Cyborg Productions of Prior Lake, Minn. (more…)
Eleanor Roosevelt’s 1947 visit to Duluth
Two years after U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt traveled to Duluth. While here she was made an Honorary Ambassador Extraordinary of the Dushy of Duluth — the ambassadors program of the Duluth Chamber of Commerce. The photo above shows her receiving the citation from Arthur C. Young, “Prince of the East.” (more…)
Postcard from the Duluth Board of Trade Building
The postmark is smudged and appears to be from May 1913, but the message on the back of the card is dated May 12, 1912. It shows Duluth’s Board of Trade building, which still stands at 301-307 W. First St. It was built in 1894 to replace the original Board of Trade, which was destroyed by fire that year. Duluth architects Oliver G. Traphagen and Francis W. Fitzpatrick designed the new eight-story Romanesque structure. (more…)
Mystery Photo #53: Commonwealth Avenue?
This old photo of someone’s hot rod seems to be from the early 1970s and the scene is very likely Commonwealth Avenue in Gary-New Duluth. But if this is showing Commonwealth Avenue, where specifically? (more…)
KUWS Final Edition episode on the CJMM Memorial
I found the CD that Mike Simonson gave me and uploaded it to SoundCloud. It’s a half-hour segment titled “Teaching History, Literacy and Tolerance: The Clayton Jackson McGhie Memorial in Our Schools.” Panelists are Henry Banks, Catherine Nachbar, David Beard, Gail Schoenfelder and Perry Kennedy. Moderators are Jennifer and Mike Simonson.
Cramer Tunnel in Lake County
About 70 miles northeast of Duluth, near Crosby Manitou State Park, is a unincorporated community named after its pioneer merchant, J.N. Cramer. There sits Minnesota’s longest train tunnel, connecting the former LTV Steel Hoyt Lakes taconite plant with its ore dock at Taconite Harbor. A recent post on photographer Dan Turner’s Substreet website features a collection if interesting summer and winter photos from the tunnel and surrounding area. (more…)
Delivering Mail on Minnesota Point in Winter
Never mind the seasonal sentiment, this postcard was sent in the summer. It was in the trusted hands of the United States Postal Service 110 years ago, traveling from Duluth to South Dakota. It was postmarked at Duluth on Sept. 4 and received in Carthage, S.D. on Sept. 6, 1907. (more…)
Lost Duluth Trolley in Minneapolis
This former Duluth trolley makes frequent trips back and forth between Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis. Trolleys are restored and operated by the Minnesota Transportation Museum. (more…)
I Hafe a Feller in Duluth
Presenting yet another “Dutch Kid” pennant postcard, similar to “Mit Best Wishes from Duluth,” “Vilkome to our city of Duluth” and “Iff you vill come to Duluth ve vill lock up all de cops.” This one was mailed from Duluth to Minneapolis on Aug. 20, 1913. Translating the written message on the back will win someone the Internet championship of the day. (more…)
Photo Archive: The Last Roar by the Shore
John’s Red Lion Bar closed on Aug. 31, 2007, after more than 35 years in business. The building at 220 E. Superior St. has pretty much always been a bar. It was built in 1910 to house the Albert Salter Saloon. From the early 1950s to late ’60s it was the Two-Twenty Lounge. Before it became the Red Lion, it was briefly the Diamond Lounge. (more…)
Duluth-Superior Transit Company’s “Rider’s Digest”
Seventy years ago today.
Log rolling in the Duluth Harbor, Summer 1911
The southeastern edge of the Aerial Lift Bridge can be seen in the upper left corner of this shot. The large building occupying most of the background is the Duluth Boat Club, built in 1903 at 1000 Minnesota Ave. on the edge of the Duluth Harbor. It closed in 1933 and was used to store boats until it was destroyed by fire in 1951.
Tom Isbell on Columbo, 1990
Tom Isbell, professor of theater at the University of Minnesota Duluth, has a lengthy professional acting resume spanning the years 1984-’94, which can be perused at imdb.com. Among his many roles on popular television shows is Sgt. Brady on the Columbo episode “Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo,” which originally aired March 31, 1990.
Classic.
West Duluth’s Alhambra Theater
West Duluth has three former theater buildings — the West, Doric and Alhambra. Of the three, the Alhambra is by far the least known. (more…)
Duluthian Sadik Hakim featured on Jazz Profiles blog
“In 1982, the music world lost a legend with the death of Thelonious Monk. At Monk’s funeral, thousands gathered to pay their respects. One of Monk’s former colleagues sat at the piano and played, according to legendary jazz writer Ted Joans, “a sad but soulful” version of Monk’s own “’Round Midnight.” That pianist was Duluth-native Sadik Hakim, who played and recorded with jazz icons from the 1940s to the 1980s. Down Beat magazine described him as “one of the unsung veterans who helped forge the bebop revolution.”
Sadik Hakim: A Remembrance by David Ouse
Northern Pacific Ore Dock in Allouez
At Loon’s Foot Landing in Superior’s Allouez neighborhood, near the mouth of the Nemadji River in the Allouez Bay Channel, stands the remains of the Northern Pacific Ore Dock — built from 1912-13; abandoned by 1970. In July, Liftoff Aerials sent the PDD Drone up to have a bird’s-eye view of the old concrete-and-steel structure. (more…)
Postcard from 18th Avenue East and London Road
This postcard was mailed 112 years ago today, Aug. 16, 1905. It depicts a scene looking east from roughly the spot where a Taco John’s sits today at 1810 London Road in Duluth’s Endion neighborhood. (more…)
Postcard from the Vista Queen
This undated postcard published by Erickson Post Cards & Souvenirs shows the mighty Vista Queen inside the Duluth Harbor. The text on the back notes “the Vista Fleet can accommodate groups from 20 to 800 on an exiting two-hour tour of Lake Superior and the Duluth-Superior Harbor. Lunch, dinner and moonlight cruses available.”
