History
The Way it Was in West Duluth
Alan Terway (left), bartender at Mr. D’s Spirit Valley Bar and Lounge, 5622 Grand Ave., talks with retired bartender Johnny Matheson of Superior. Matheson tended bar there in the 1940s and ’50s, when it was called Teve’s West Duluth Bar and Grill. (Duluth News Tribune & Herald photo by Charles Curtis, 1985)
And now, a look back at a look back. Forty years ago today — July 18, 1985 — the Duluth News-Tribune & Herald published a special Community Herald section with several stories about West Duluth. The cover story delved into neighborhood bar nostalgia. (more…)
Postcard from the Boulevard Around Duluth
This postcard of Skyline Parkway, from well before it was called Skyline Parkway, is dated July 12, 1905 — 120 years ago today. It is not clear what part of Skyline is featured in the image. (more…)
Lake Superior International Highway opened in 1925
Call this historical tidbit “Highway 61 Revisited.” On July 10, 1925 — one hundred years ago today — a celebration was held in Two Harbors to mark the completion of what was then called the Lake Superior International Highway, a section of Minnesota Trunk Highway 1. (more…)
Video Archive: Iron Ore from the Mesabi Mines circa the 1920s
This silent documentary film depicts the mining, shipping and processing of iron ore from the Mesabi Range. Although the title confidently states 1920, other sources estimate 1926 as year the footage was shot.
Scenes from Duluth begin at the ore docks at the 1:55 mark and conclude at the shipping canal at the 3-minute mark. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Woman at Arcade Studio
This postcard photo is likely from around 1920. The only solid clue is on the back, where the photo is attributed to Arcade studio, 110 W. Superior St., Duluth. The studio had previously been known as the Penny Arcade. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #6: Superior Street in Six Acts
Superior Street around 1873. (Photo from the Northeast Minnesota Historical Collection)
The downtown section of Superior Street has a more complete photographic record than any other part of the city, revealing how dramatically Duluth’s main street has changed over time. This Duluth Deep Dive traces the 170-year history of downtown Superior Street by dividing its history into six periods and illustrating each period with a photo. (more…)
Postcard from Superior Street Looking East
This undated postcard, published by Zenith Interstate News Company, shows Superior Street in Downtown Duluth looking northeast from between Fourth and Fifth avenues west. (more…)
Cold War Secrets of Northern Minnesota
This 2024 PBS North documentary, now available on YouTube, digs into the Cold War and northern Minnesota’s role in the global conflict. It features Cold War heroes like Ray Klosowski, Jim Chapman and Ronald Hein, and visits military sites in Duluth, French River and Finland.
Alhambra changed name to State Theater in 1925
West Duluth’s Alhambra Theater reopened under a new name, The State Theater, on June 27, 1925. The name change came after a renovation of the space, which had originally opened on Sept. 15, 1913.
The State Theater closed circa 1928. The building housed a variety of businesses until it reopened as the Alhambra on May 16, 2025 — one month ahead of the centennial of its name change. (more…)
Postcards from North Shore Drive / State Highway No. 1
The images in this post are all touched up versions of photos from postcards for sale by eBay seller LL Vintage Antiques. They appear to be circa 1925. Two depict scenes from North Shore Drive with Duluth captioned as the location, though they might have been shot outside Duluth city limits. (more…)
Ice Racing Getaway Driver
1983 St. Louis County jailhouse interview with “Turbo” Ted Van Brunt
Interviewer: Tell me about your escape from Duluth.
Turbo Ted: Escaping Duluth is a coin flip. Half my friends tried and couldn’t reach the velocity, came back after two or three years of getting kicked around out there. I tried a couple times.
What you’re really asking about started a couple springs ago, when it rained then the temperature plunged. The city woke up with a coating of clear ice on every surface. Branches falling in the road. Whole city shut down, nothing could move.
Except my black, street stock, ice racing stud car, a 1976 Chevette with a roll cage and 500 spikes on each tire — sheet metal screws we screwed in ourselves. Fender all chewed up. Commonly called the worst car of all time but it did everything we asked. And Johnny said it was go time. He was the brains, had it all worked, how to disarm the system at the Superior Street jewelers there. He got that with a bribe. It was only a question of when, and this was our crisis of opportunity. “The cops won’t stand a chance,” he said, and they didn’t. They even had chains on but they still didn’t know how to drive. Anyway so Johnny robbed it, but he didn’t get all the alarms. And I was the getaway driver but I still get half. Which wasn’t much — a couple display cases worth of diamond jewelry. Pulled him behind the car on a tether as we blew down Superior through deserted intersections, cross-training for frozen lake ice races at the same time we’re robbing a jewelry store. Just on his feet — no skis, just boots. And of course the cop shop is right there. But their interceptors fell behind. It was beautiful. (more…)
Duluth to Liverpool in One Bottom
On June 19, 1920 — 105 years ago today — Scientific American published an article by Robert G. Skerrett editorializing in favor of the “Great Lakes being opened to the sea so that ocean-going craft can steam from Duluth to the Atlantic and thence along our neighboring seaboard or afar to the markets of Europe.” (more…)
Minnesota Historia: Top 10 Voyageur Statues
At long last, a countdown of the best voyageur statues in northern Minnesota, with tidbits on why the state is so fascinated by these colorful figures who worked as the long-haul truckers of the fur trade.
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.
What Does William S. Burroughs Owe Djuna Barnes?
A lot of William S. Burroughs kind of sounds like Djuna Barnes. The prime example: Barnes created the character Doctor Matthew O’Connor in her 1936 novel Nightwood, and Dr. O’Connor could easily be confused with the 1938 Burroughs character, Dr. Benway (no first name). Each fictional physician is a comically amoral addict abortionist. I think it’s likely Burroughs created Dr. Benway within a year of reading Nightwood. Burroughs owes Barnes a debt of inspiration, and not just in the creation of Benway — many of his other characters could also be walk-ons in Nightwood, fitting in well among Barnes’ cast of liars, pretenders, and cheats. So it’s safe to say Barnes influenced the characters Burroughs created. I will also show her influence on his voice, style, and themes.
Since the 1980s, a Burroughs blurb appears on the back of every Nightwood edition, saying in its entirety, “I read Nightwood back in the 1930s and was very taken with it. I consider it one of the great books of the twentieth century.” That’s all he ever said about it; it says it all. It is commonly acknowledged that he admired her work, but I think Barnes had a larger influence. I think Burroughs took what he learned from Nightwood and then, in 1959, he wrote the actual number-one greatest book of the twentieth century, Naked Lunch. Barnes’ influence is found there, and throughout Burroughs’ work. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #5: The Life and Times of William Sheldon Storer, Early Duluth Dentist
Dr. Storer came to Duluth from New York in 1893, where he set up practice as a local dentist. This post uses the Duluth Herald archives to recount notable events from his life, including his legal battle with Dr. Laird’s Travelling Medicine Show, his second marriage to a locally renowned German dietitian, and his role in what the original Duluth Rip-saw referred to as the “worst war in the glorious history of Lester Park.” (more…)
To Tell the Truth: Mayor Johnson and Mr. Magoo
Duluth Mayor George D. Johnson appeared on the CBS-TV show To Tell the Truth in an episode that aired May 31, 1965 — 60 years ago today. Mayor Johnson was the second of three characters/contestants introduced on the show. The concept of To Tell the Truth is that each character is accompanied by two imposters, and the three of them answer questions from a panel of celebrities who then try to guess which of the three is the authentic person. (more…)
Postcard from the Moonlight Over Lake Superior
This postcard, unmailed and undated, shows Downtown Duluth at night, circa perhaps the 1930s.
Hotel Duluth / Greysolon Plaza Centennial
The Hotel Duluth opened 100 years ago this month. Business operations began on May 8, 1925, and a formal grand opening was held May 22-23. (more…)
Postcards from the Androy Hotel
Superior’s Androy Hotel opened 100 years ago today — May 15, 1925. It was advertised as the largest and only fireproof hotel in Superior. (more…)
View of Downtown Duluth from Observation Hill in 1965
This photo is dated 1965; photographer unknown.
Hockin Brace & Paleen opened larger furniture store in 1925
One hundred years ago today — May 11, 1925 — the Hockin Brace & Paleen furniture store opened in the new building on the corner of Lake Avenue and West First Street in Duluth. The location is best known today as the Usan building, home of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce since 2002. (more…)
Ripped at Eagles Aerie 80 in 2005
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a visit to Eagles Aerie 80 at 1710 N. 12th St. in Superior, and composed this article for the May 2005 edition of the Ripsaw newspaper.]
So, what is the Fraternal Order of the Eagles? Well, according to the group’s motto, “Eagles are people helping people.” How do they help people? Well, who cares? They help me by selling 34-ounce mugs of beer for $2.50 during “late-night happy hour” from 10 p.m. to midnight. Thank you, Eagles Aerie 80. “People helping people,” indeed.
The Eagles are also big on disaster relief. For example, all this cheap beer is causing a 9+ magnitude gutquake in my stomach, but, this being a Saturday, I can count on a wholesome breakfast to be served tomorrow, right here, hopefully in time to prevent a reverse tsunami.
Right now, however, I’m so fucktarded drunk that, despite being surrounded by philanthropists, I’m seriously thinking about stealing an old guy’s jacket. It’s a Rusty Nail jacket, advertising my favorite South Superior bar, and I think it will look good on me. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #4: A Rock on Fourth Street
A rock on a section of undeveloped land on Fourth Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues east. (Photo by Matthew James)
There are a lot of rocks, large and small, strewn about Duluth. This post uses the assistance of ChatGPT, backed-up by a moderate amount of fact checking, to figure out what can and cannot be known about this particular one. (more…)
Footloose monkey afield in Fairmount Park in 1941
Carl Kuchenbecker was apparently responsible for nine primates disappearing into the woods near Kingsbury Creek during his many years as proprietor of The Same Old Place in West Duluth. The story of a “ringtailed monkey” named Bobby landed on the front page of the Duluth Herald on Oct. 18, 1941. (more…)