History Posts

Lake Superior Aquaman: My 100% True Adventures

#visitduluth #thx2transistor

Excerpts from my journals, which tell of my 100% true adventures and discoveries.

Contents

Part 1: The Nightmare Fish

Part 2: The Insane Reptiles

Part 3: It Came from Lake Inferior

Mystery Photo #104: Mustached Dude with Fat Tie

Who is this handsome Duluthian? Was he actually a Duluthian at all or just passing through and feeling photogenic?

UMD’s 125th Anniversary: The Rare and Remarkable

Duluth Normal School May Queen and Her Court.

On April 2, 1895 — 125 years ago today — Minnesota Governor David. M. Clough signed legislation approving the creation of the State Normal School at Duluth. It would be seven more years before classes were held, but nonetheless, the University of Minnesota Duluth traces its beginning to that moment in 1895.

Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #46: Grand Finale

Here it is, the last one in the set of trivia cards from an old board game purchased at Savers.

Northeastern Minnesota COVID-19 Community Archive Project

Hello, PDD Community!

Imagine that 100 years from now you are researching the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in Northeastern Minnesota. It’s easy to find dry statistics and numbers, but you want more. What were people thinking and feeling during this time? What informational materials and public art did they create? How were they helping each other? What did the day-to-day experience of this time look like in Duluth?

What if there were an archive of those experiences for you to explore?

The 2005 Duluth Art Institute Riot

Academic and Critical Excerpts, collated and footnoted by the Richardson brothers (Jim and Allen Richardson)

Who (or what) was Sonny?

This 1910 Duluth postcard raises at least one large looming question.

Masonic Temple, Duluth, Minn.

The Duluth Masonic Temple at 4 W. Second St. opened 115 years ago — March 24, 1905, and continues to operate today as the Duluth Masonic Center.

The Value of Duluth Telephone Service in 1920

This advertisement in the March 9, 1920 issue of the Duluth Herald notes Duluth had 20,706 telephones.

The Richardson brothers in the book “Haunted Minnesota”

This post could also be called “Bigfoot and Us.”

Starting in 1998, my brother Allen and I wrote a “weird science” column called “Gonzo Science” for the alternative Duluth newsweekly Ripsaw.

Superintendents of Duluth Public Schools, 1870 to 2020

As the search continues for a new superintendent of Duluth Public Schools, we present here a look back at those who have held the Independent School District #709 post throughout the past 150 years.

Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #45

Another trivia card from a board game purchased at Savers.

PDD Quiz: Prohibition in the Twin Ports

To mark the centennial of the start of nationwide Prohibition, this week’s quiz explores how residents of the Twin Ports adapted to (and circumvented) laws banning alcohol.

The Zenith City website, the Northeast Minnesota Historical Center collections, and the book Naturally Brewed, Naturally Better: The Historic Breweries of Duluth and Superior by Pete Clure and Tony Dierckins were all invaluable sources of research for this quiz.

The next PDD quiz, reviewing headlines from March 2020, will be published on March 29. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by March 26.

Do you know? Facts about Duluth from 1920

From Feb. 23 to March 25 of 1920 the Duluth Herald newspaper published a daily fact about Duluth on its front page. Some are pretty interesting, some are kind of silly. All in all, it’s a fun snapshot of what Duluth was bragging about a century ago.

Postcard from Astor Trading Post

This undated postcard depicts a replica of the American Fur Company trading post at Fond du Lac, which opened in 1935 at Chambers Grove Park in Duluth’s Fond du Lac neighborhood and was demolished in the late 1960s.

The original fur post operated from 1817 to 1847 at the present-day site of Historical Park, just a bit downstream from Chambers Grove Park along the St. Louis River.

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