This early 20th century postcard shows the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Passenger Station, which was located in Duluth’s old waterfront warehouse district — basically between Amsoil Arena and the Ordean Building where I-35 is now.
One century ago the Miller Brothers opened Miller Music Company at 8 W. First St. in Duluth’s Spina Building. According to the Kathryn A. Martin Library’s Archives & Special Collections at the University of Minnesota Duluth, “Abe Miller was a violinist and the manager of the Duluth Symphony for 37 years beginning in 1932. Ben was an assistant manager of Northern Drug prior to launching the music store in 1922.”
The Duluth Public Library’s Nostalgic Newsstand Sale was a source of many things to write about. Here is another advert from my collection of now-recycled magazines.
Modern and fireproof, featuring the finest food and liquors, located at the center of everything and on the shore of beautiful Lake Superior, containing all possible comforts and conveniences, with lodging available for the whole family, they are the classic hotels and motels of Duluth.
This is the fourth in Perfect Duluth Day’s series of matchbook collection posts. As always, we remind everyone to please close the cover before striking.
Explore Minnesota’s love affair with smelt, the shimmering silver fish that’s easy to catch and fun to eat. Now that Lake Superior’s smelt population is in decline, an annual parade in downtown Duluth keeps that love alive.
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.
This image is from a postcard mailed 115 years ago today — May 23, 1908 — available for sale on ebay. It’s been touched up a bit here for easier viewing. The obvious mystery is what organization the people in the photo belong to.
The item is listed on eBay as “1908 RPPC Duluth Minnesota College Club Vintage Postcard MN Land Point Idaho ID.” The “college club” part of that is clearly speculative. Many of the men have sashes and badges that suggest perhaps they are part of a fraternal club like the Odd Fellows.
Sportsman Magazine Ad
The Duluth Public Library’s Nostalgic Newsstand Sale was a source of many things to write about.
This roughly 80-year-old film features scenes at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1108 E. Eighth St. in Duluth’s East Hillside neighborhood. Also in the film are a nearby market, the Kenwood Community Club and a building under construction.
One of the cooler things about the adverts from the Duluth Public Library Nostalgic Newsstand Sale are the ads for travel on the train. Before planes, before interstates, the train was ubiquitous for travel. I love this ad for “To the Orient on Canadian Pacific.”
In 1962, a mongoose at the Duluth Zoo was sentenced to death by the federal government, but he’s not the only animal in Minnesota who finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time.
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.
A couple of weeks ago I posted an explanation of how to get to Saint-Germain-Laval, France, the hometown of Daniel Greysolon Sieur du Luth, the person after whom the city of Duluth is named. I was not entirely sure if my own trip there would happen. It did, and that post has now been updated with more accurate information and a few explanatory photos for anyone in the future who might be interested in visiting.
The Duluth Public Library’s Nostalgic Newsstand Sale was clever and pleasurable for a number of reasons.
Duluth Grill Family of Restaurants co-owner Louis Hanson looks over a newspaper from 1893. The business is renovating the former Duluth Press building and discovered dozens of newspapers in the floorboards. (Photos by Mark Nicklawske)
Buffalo Bill Cody has been buried under the floorboards of a historic Duluth building for 130 years.
Owners of a Lincoln Park business recently discovered a variety of 19th century newspapers inside a building financed by the legendary wild west star and used by his sister to operate a weekly news publication. The treasure trove turned up during major building renovations this winter.
The Duluth News Tribune reports the sidewalk and stairway that marks the location of the former Incline Railway at Seventh Avenue West, designated as a recreational hiking trail, will soon have interpretive signage.
Travelers in Minnesota who want to experience the golden age of the tourist trap are a few decades late, but a handful of the kitschy roadside attractions still remain. This short documentary takes viewers on the open road in search of adventure, cheap souvenirs and a room full of chainsaws.
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.
