Mystery Photo #68: Aerial Transfer Bridge
There’s no doubt the subject of this mystery photo is the gondola car on Duluth’s Aerial Bridge, but what year was the photo shot?
There’s no doubt the subject of this mystery photo is the gondola car on Duluth’s Aerial Bridge, but what year was the photo shot?
This postcard image looking out from Skyline Drive at the city’s hillside, downtown, Aerial Lift Bridge, Minnesota Point, Lake Superior and so on has been used a few times as Perfect Duluth Day’s cover photo on Facebook, and more than once has been met with the question, “Who did this painting?” The answer is, we don’t know. Old postcards rarely credit the artist. But maybe someone out there knows.
This video is part of a DVD Kenneth Newhams of Duluth Shipping News produced in 2005 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Aerial Lift Bridge. It features archival video courtesy of Don Hermanson at Keweenaw Video Productions.
Circa 1905. Photographer unknown.
High-concept video by Dave Johnson.
For your Valentine’s Day pleasure, here are 19 seconds of images shot by Dennis O’Hara over the weekend, showing the Full Snow Moon drifting skyward behind the Aerial Lift Bridge.
Local up-and-coming musician Matt Miller’s video for his new song “All-Star” shot by Max Fierek of Nionix Media.
Check Matt out on Soundcloud at soundcloud.com/mattmillersongs and Max’s YouTube Channel at youtube.com/c/MaxFierek.
This image is from an undated postcard published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography in Duluth.
Photo description from the back of the card:
The French Ship Racroi enters the Duluth-Superior Harbor through the famous Aerial Lift Bridge. Also shown is the Streamliner, an excursion boat. A tug helps guide the 13,000-ton bulk cargo carrier Racroi, which is 555 feet long with a 69-foot boom and a 27-foot draft.
Mary Netta Abe tagged Perfect Duluth Day on Facebook with this image. She was born in Duluth, but her family moved away.
“I still have dreams with the old, familiar images of my childhood,” she writes. “I have flying dreams, which are my favorite; I can feel the amazing sensation of being airborne. In one dream, I soared over the Aerial Bridge! As an artist, I used that dream as an inspiration for this drawing! I will always love Duluth!”
The ice-coated Great Lakes Trader floated steamed into Duluth at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 13 to load iron pellets. Video by Dennis O’Hara.
The Netflix revival of the TV comedy/drama Gilmore Girls features a brief and strange nod to the Zenith City. The last of the four new episodes includes a pre-wedding scene with Sookie St. James (played by Melissa McCarthy) showing a cake to Lorelai Gilmore (played by Lauren Graham) that has a miniature Aerial Lift Bridge on it labeled “Duluth.”
