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History Posts

Video Archive: 2007 Fire at True North Cedar on Duluth Harbor

Jun 22, 2017 No Comments

At around 8 a.m. on June 22, 2007, a fire started in a waste conveyor machine at True North Cedar‘s manufacturing building on the Duluth Harbor. Employees attempted to fight the fire, but it was fed by sawdust and spread quickly. The warehouse, several boats and various equipment was quickly consumed in a huge smokey blaze.

Firefighters arrived at 8:17 a.m., but were unable to get hoses going until 8:50. It took a little more than an hour to put the fire out once water was available.


History, Videos

Postcards from Duluth’s Incline Railway

Jun 20, 2017 No Comments

The Incline Plane Railway, a tram system operated by the Duluth Street Railway Company, began service in 1891. It carried passengers from a housing development at the top of the hillside into the downtown along Seventh Avenue West.

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History ,

Antique photos: Denfeld High School under construction

Jun 18, 2017 1 Comment

Jay Sonnenburg found this photo in his grandfather’s collection. It shows Denfeld High School under construction on the lower edge, which puts the year of the image around 1926. The groundbreaking ceremony for the building was held March 6, 1925; it opened for classes on Sept. 8, 1926.

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History, Photos

The Ballad of Clayton, Jackson and McGhie

Jun 15, 2017 No Comments

Local musician Bill Nash produced this music video in May, recalling the June 15, 1920 lynching of Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie.

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History, Music, Videos

Brew North: A Beer Story

Jun 15, 2017 No Comments

WDSE-TV‘s recent documentary on the brewing history of northern Minnesota can now be viewed online … right here. Brew North: A Beer Story explores the many ways beer established a niche in the Duluth area and continues to leave its mark on the region.


History, Videos ,

Video Archive: Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad

Jun 14, 2017 No Comments

This weekend (tentatively) the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad begins its 37th season of running 90-minute tours along the St. Louis River. This historical documentary was produced in 1983.


History, Videos , ,

Fact Check: Matilda attacks Jimmy Hart’s Megaphone in Duluth

Jun 13, 2017 1 Comment

Prior to a Heavy on Wrestling card in Duluth this past weekend, “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart sat down for an interview on Fox 21. At the very outset he launched into an anecdote that seems to imply a tag team he managed, the Hart Foundation, wrestled the British Bulldogs in Duluth in the 1980s.

In the dressing room before the match, so the story goes, a dog named Matilda, the literal bulldog that accompanied the two wrestler “Bulldogs” to the ring, became agitated by Hart’s megaphone and unexpectedly attacked it. The summation of the story is that the surprise attack by Matilda in Duluth inspired planned antics by Hart at Wrestlemania III, the famous wrestling card that attracted 93,173 people to the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich., considered at the time to be the largest audience for a live indoor event in North America.

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Select Images from the 1967 Denfeld Oracle

Jun 08, 2017 1 Comment

With the Denfeld High School class of 2017 poised to receive diplomas tonight, we set the Wayback Machine for a glimpse of what the Hunter lifestyle was like five decades ago. The good boys and girls of the Denfeld class of ’67, by the way, will gather Sept. 15-17 for their 50-year reunion.

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History, Photos

Video Archive: Benaszeski Brothers Polka Band in 1983

Jun 07, 2017 1 Comment

Time for yet another classic from the collection of the late Emil Praslowicz, digitized by his grandson, Kip Praslowicz. In this edition a dance frenzy ensues at Chet & Emil’s in Birnamwood, Wis. as the Benaszeski Brothers bring the rock-infused polka action.


History, Music, Videos ,

Gleanings from the book of Eli

Jun 06, 2017 No Comments

In honor of a decade+ of writing for the Duluth Budgeteer — gone forever — I wanted to share this piece. At just 45 miles from Duluth, the Wirtanen Pioneer Farm is a swell destination to add to your summer bucket list. A quiet place, with little programming, it’s the sort of environment that might bore some of you. If you have ears to hear, however, there is much to be heard. We can learn a lot from the work ethic of pioneers like Eli. I jotted down some thoughts at Ed’s Big Adventure, and am curious about yours.


History ,

Postcard from Alpert’s Motel on Scenic Highway 61

Jun 06, 2017 No Comments

Alpert’s Motel was located “13 miles from Downtown Duluth on North Shore Drive. Scenic Highway 61 on Lake Superior Circle Route.” The back of the postcard shown here indicates the motel offered “all the modern conveniences for your comfort, spacious grounds and beautiful view of Lake Superior.”

Joe and Mary Beth Alpert moved from Duluth to the French River area in 1952 to build the motel. They managed it until 1976. Joe died in 2004; Mary Beth in 2012. The motel was auctioned off in 1992.


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Standing Alone

Jun 05, 2017 No Comments

Duluth filmmaker/musician/artist Ariane Norrgard just premiered this at the Zinema. It is about Anishinaabe elder, Jim Merhar, of Coleraine Minnesota, who once rocked both the Armory and the Opry.


History, Music, Videos

Duluthian Phillip Merritt and the Manhattan Project

Jun 02, 2017 No Comments

A new posting at the Vintage Duluth / Duluth Public Library blog (formerly Reference @ Duluth) is about “Duluthian Phillip Merritt and the Manhattan Project.”


History

Mystery mural found during NorShor Theatre renovation

Jun 01, 2017 No Comments

At a May 31 news conference, Duluth Playhouse Executive & Artistic Director Christine Gradl Seitz showed off a canvas painting discovered by workers busy renovating the NorShor Theatre. The Duluth News Tribune reports the painting was “behind a suspended ceiling that was installed in 1941 when the existing Orpheum Theatre was converted into the NorShor. The grand theater’s original balcony had been concealed and transformed into a makeshift attic. But Gradl Seitz said a careful exploration of the space revealed ‘this beautiful mural, which we believe dates back to 1910, and the original Orpheum.'”

The NorShor is expected to open in early 2018; the Playhouse has a run of the musical Mamma Mia scheduled for Feb. 8-24. Renovation work is about 60 percent complete.

The theater was purchased by the Duluth Economic Development Authority in June 2010 for $2.6 million. The $30.5-million renovation began in summer 2016. It is a partnership between Sherman Associates and DEDA. The 750+ seat theater will serve as an arts center managed by the Duluth Playhouse.

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History, News and Current Affairs

Postcard from Brindos’ London Road Court

May 29, 2017 No Comments

Marketed as “Duluth’s finest auto court,” located “on the shore of beautiful Lake Superior,” Brindos’ London Road Court boasted 14 “all modern” units. Amenities included housekeeping facilities, electric refrigeration, gas range, shower baths, lavatories, automatic gas heat and hot water.

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