Lanue – “What I Love the Most”

Duluthian Sarah Krueger’s new music project is called Lanue. The album is available for pre-order on Bandcamp.

The video for the track “What I Love the Most” was filmed and directed by Zoe Prinds-Flash and edited by Lauren Josephine.

MusicVideosSarah Krueger / Lanue

First Presbyterian Church of Duluth circa 1870

Duluth’s First Presbyterian Church was built at 231 E. Second St. in 1870. It was replaced by a larger building in 1891, across the street at 300 E. Second St., which still stands. The original church was used by other congregations until it was demolished in 1971. The area is now part of the Rainbow Senior Center property. (more…)

HistoryPhotosChurchesFirst Presbyterian ChurchStereographs
Pier B Resort: Rise and Dine
Pizza Luce: Dililio

Breaking Ice to Bring in Freighters on the 20th of January

This postcard, published by the Hugh C. Leighton Company, was never mailed and has no year marked on it, but the caption on the front would indicate the illustration is based on a photo shot on Jan. 20 of some year in the early 1900s.

Whether the artist drew people standing on the edge of the ice as a creative choice or whether they were really standing there is not known, unless the photo exists somewhere. Either way, file the act of walking out to ice breakers in the “no, don’t do that” category.

HistoryGreat Lakes Ships and Shipping IndustryHugh C. Leighton CompanyPostcards

Wild Ice

OutdoorsPhotosLake SuperiorLake Superior AquamanNorth Shore of Lake Superior
Grandma\'s YAF MN Mile
Pier B Resort: Rise and Dine

Matchbooks from Duluth Restaurants and Bars

Perfect Duluth Day published its first gallery of Duluth-area matchbooks in 2015. Since then, the collection has grown significantly. This new post features only matchbooks from bars and restaurants in Duluth. Some of them have been pulled out of the original post and placed in this new post; others are appearing for the first time.

Enjoy the nostalgia and, whatever you do, for the love of humanity, please close cover before striking. (more…)

HistoryRestaurantsBars / Drinking EstablishmentsCollections and MemorabiliaMatchbooks

Haroula Rose – “Duluth”

Ten years ago today — Jan. 18, 2011 — Los Angeles-based musician Haroula Rose released her debut album These Open Roads, which includes a cover of the Mason Jennings song “Duluth.”

MusicDuluth Songs
Vision Pro: Clear Vision
Fond-du-Luth Casino: Sunday Fun Play

Duluth You & Me: Grand Finale

We have reached the end of the Duluth You & Me series. Use this link for a printable PDF to color the final page: Duluth You & Me: Do come back again!

Or, download a PDF of the whole book: Duluth You & Me full PDF

Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see all the pages as individual posts on Perfect Duluth Day. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.

ArtDuluth You & Me

Shuttered Park Point church orchestrates big land sale

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church sits on just under one acre of land adjacent to Lake Superior on Minnesota Point. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

A historic church building perched on Lake Superior beachfront property is up for sale and the top bidder will win the largest developable site available in the Park Point neighborhood.

Our Lady of Mercy/St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church officials will open bids for Our Lady of Mercy church, 2002 Minnesota Ave., on Feb. 1. The small neighborhood church was closed in July 2016 and its nearly one-acre lakeside parcel was listed for sale three months ago. The asking price is $650,000. (more…)

News and Current AffairsMinnesota Point and Park Point
Glensheen Lantern Tours 2026
Pizza Luce: Dililio

PDD Quiz: Snow Foolin’

Step up to this week’s quiz and test your knowledge of snow-related events, celebrations and disasters.

As with all history-related quizzes, the Minnesota Reflections and the Zenith City websites were indespensible resources.

The next PDD quiz, reviewing headlines from January 2021, will be coming your way on Jan. 31. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Jan. 26. (more…)

HistoryPDD Quiz

Ripped at Goodsports Bar & Grill in 2001

[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who visited Goodsports Bar & Grill at 2827 Oakes Ave. in Superior and penned this report for the Feb. 7, 2001 issue of the Ripsaw newspaper. The former Goodsports location became home to Ace’s on 29th in 2009.]

I’ve discovered something. I was afraid to mention it over the past month because I didn’t want you sorry sheep following me around. But now that the 2000–2001 Superior Boot Hockey League season is over, I think it’s safe to let you know: Goodsports Bar & Grill rocks.

You probably don’t believe me, and you shouldn’t. Goodsports? What can be good about another sports bar with a bazillion televisions and the same old burger menu and Viking/Packer décor?

Well, let me explain: While hockey players are definitely some of the most annoying people in the world, the sport of hockey is sweet. It’s fast, it’s violent and it involves incredible skill. Best of all, there’s no marching band at halftime and no seventh-inning sing-along. Between periods, some goober drives a big tank in circles. (more…)

RandomBars / Drinking EstablishmentsSaturday Essay
Lake Superior Harvest Festival

Selective Focus: Moose

So funny looking but still majestic. This week, photos of friends from Frostbite Falls. (more…)

PhotosInstagramMooseSelective Focus

Clark House Hotel, West Superior Street circa 1870

This uncredited photo, presumably shot by Paul B. Gaylord, shows the 100 block of West Superior Street in Downtown Duluth looking northeast. The Clark House Hotel, in the foreground at left, was Duluth’s second hotel, opening in July 1870. (more…)

HistoryPhotosHotels / Motels / Resorts / Hostels / LodgingStereographs
Pier B Resort: Rise and Dine
Grandma\'s YAF MN Mile

Paula Gudmundson – “Partita in A minor”

Dr. Paula Gudmundson, associate professor of music at the University of Minnesota Duluth, performs J.S. Bach’s “Partita in A minor” in this music video shot throughout Duluth on Sept. 16 as part of the Bach Society of Minnesota’s Mini Mobile Concerts Series. (more…)

MusicVideosDanSan CreativesPaula Gudmundson

“Big Friendly Mike” was friend to many

Obits are not common on Perfect Duluth Day, but Mike Hruza wasn’t a common person. He was known to hundreds, thousands of Duluthians as “Big Friendly Mike” because he worked for decades selling games and comics, or because he played games and talked comics with anyone who would listen (including the times I sat next to him on the bus). (more…)

R.I.P.
Pier B Resort: Rise and Dine
Lake Superior Harvest Festival

Postcard from London Manor Motel

This undated postcard, published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography, shows the London Manor Motel, one of several lodging businesses that comprised London Road’s old “Motel Row.”

London Manor was built in 1955 and later became the Chalet Motel, which was torn down in 2011. A Sherwin-Williams paint store was built at the location in 2019. (more…)

HistoryGallagher's Studio of PhotographyHotels / Motels / Resorts / Hostels / LodgingPostcards

The Slice: Live Streaming Guitar Lessons with Darin Bergsven

Duluth musician Darin Bergsven has been performing and teaching guitar online since March.

In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.

MusicVideosDarin BergsvenThe SliceWDSE-TV - PBS North
Lake Superior Harvest Festival
Ashwabay Alliance / Big Top Chautauqua

Duluth You & Me: A Review Game

As the Duluth You & Me series nears its conclusion, we present this review game. Use the link below for a printable PDF to use as your game board.
Duluth You & Me: A Review Game

Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.

ArtDuluth You & Me

Heely Tricks with JamesG: December 2020

Another monthly installment of wheeled-sneaker stunts from former Duluthian James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG.

VideosInline Skating / Roller Skating / Wheeled SneakersJamesG
Vision Pro: Clear Vision
Lake Superior Harvest Festival

Need help with finding old newscast

I need help finding an old July 4 news segment from a Duluth TV station. It aired in the 1980s and it had a segment about Superior’s Fourth of July parade. I was interviewed on camera and would like to see if anyone knows where I can find a copy of it or direct me to a website that might have it. I’d love to see young me again. Thanks for any help anyone could provide.

RandomQueries

Making a Statement

Everyone is expected to make a statement from time to time. The obvious high-level example is when there’s a natural disaster or some kind of manmade violence and we await official remarks from the President of the United States. But it extends all the way to the dinner table, where someone might ask, “Beatrice, what do you think about copper-nickel sulfide mining?”

Some would say it’s rude to bring something like that up over supper. Beatrice might choke on the green-bean casserole in panic, fearing a faction of the family could cut ties with her if she speaks her mind.

In America we like to profess that Beatrice is just as important as Donald Trump or Joe Biden, but we are also quick to acknowledge that opinions are amplified by status and reputation.

Donald Trump has a posse. Joe Biden has a posse. It doesn’t matter if Beatrice is more intelligent, more articulate or could kickbox both of their teeth in. She is just Beatrice. They are Presidents. (more…)

PoliticsSaturday Essay
Vision Pro: Clear Vision
Fond-du-Luth Casino: Sunday Fun Play

Selective Focus: Hoar Frost / Rime Ice

The ice crystals have us surrounded. Surrender to the frost.

Collected here are select Instagram photos celebrating the wonder of water vapor condensation freezing to cold surfaces (hoar frost) and/or cooled water in the fog turning to ice (rime ice). Probably more the latter than the former. (more…)

PhotosInstagramSelective FocusWinter

The Slice: The Heart of Piedmont Ski Trails

Take a cross-country ski tour with Glen Nelson, one of the pioneers of the Piedmont Ski Trails in Duluth.

In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.

OutdoorsVideosPiedmont HeightsSkiing and SnowboardingThe SliceWDSE-TV - PBS North
Fond-du-Luth Casino: Sunday Fun Play
Weis Eye Center

One Less Guest – “Breezeblocks”

Duluth band One Less Guest performs “Breezeblocks,” a song composed by the British indie rock band Alt-J.

The live rooftop performance is part of its 2021 collection of favorite cover songs.

MusicVideosOne Less Guest

Monthly Grovel: January 2021

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As the masked, online and distanced events drag on, the PDD Calendar continues to catalog the options. Each month we reach out with one beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events. So if you appreciate it, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account. (more…)

RandomPDD Shop Talk
Weis Eye Center
Glensheen Lantern Tours 2026

Postcard from Duluth’s Hotel Lenox

This undated postcard, published by E. C. Kropp Co. of Milwaukee, highlights some of the features of the Hotel Lenox in Downtown Duluth. The hotel was torn down in the 1960s. (more…)

HistoryE. C. Kropp Co.Hotels / Motels / Resorts / Hostels / LodgingPostcards