In 1871 the steam dredge Ishpeming finished cutting a canal through Minnesota Point, opening Duluth’s inner harbor to ship traffic. One hundred and fifty years later, the canal remains a focal point for industry and tourism in the Twin Ports.
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.
This undated postcard, published by Zenith Interstate News Company, depicts the Duluth Ship Canal and Aerial Lift Bridge circa the early half of the 20th century.
Adam Jagunich takes a night time flight with his Yuneec Typhoon H Plus around the Aerial Lift Bridge as the American Integrity sails into port to pick up a load of ore.
This undated postcard, published by Harry Wolf and P. T. Olson of Detroit, Mich., features a photo taken by Wolf of the Duluth shipping canal and Aerial Lift Bridge.
Greetings friends of Duluth!
I thought I would share a postcard with you from my Gramma Myrtle’s collection. My Gramma built an extensive collection and I have been taking some time to organize it during our frigid February.
This image of Duluth’s Aerial Bridge, from Detroit Publishing Company, appears to have been shot during one of the first ferry-car transfers across the canal. The Library of Congress dates the images as 1905 … with a question mark.
In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve taken mid-20th Century Duluth footage from the National Archive and set it to the title track from the 2017 Ingeborg von Agassiz album O Giver of Dreams.
The film above was discovered with no info such as who shot it, or when and where the scenes were captured. It clearly features Duluth at the beginning and end, however, and appears to be circa 1937.
This manipulated photo from the Detroit Publishing Company is filed by the Library of Congress as “Ship canal looking in, Duluth, Minn.,” and is roughly dated 1906. The summary of the item describes the manipulation:
Photo shows a ship with the words “North West. Northern Steamship Co.” The ship appears to be pasted into the canal scene, with hand-drawn smoke and mast — a composite photograph.
This postcard from the V.O. Hammon Publishing Company features an image copyrighted in 1904 by Crandall & Maher (presumably Robert S. Crandall and James Maher). The card was mailed out of Duluth on Sept. 29, 1905 and arrived in Ohio on Oct. 2. It was sent to Miss Emily Booher of Mt. Gilead. The sender’s name is not on the card but the message scrawled on the front reads:
“It was midnight on the ocean and a storm was on the lake.” Remember.
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Weather
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
Footage from the Duluth Harbor Cam of dawn breaking over Lake Superior on Aug. 4.
This undated postcard from Zenith Interstate News Company offers a view of grain elevators on Rice’s Point, the Duluth-Superior Harbor, Aerial Lift Bridge and other waterfront locations.
The caption on the back reads:
Duluth-Superior Harbor ranks second in the world, second only to New York City in tonnage handled annually. More than ten thousand vessels arrive and depart annually from the Duluth-Superior Harbor. In this picture you see featured part of the great grain elevators and docks in the harbor. There are also the world’s largest iron ore and coal docks in this magnificent harbor.
This undated postcard from the V. O. Hammon Publishing Company shows the Steamer Easton in the Duluth Harbor. The image can be roughly dated between 1905 and 1917.
Michael Ness of Coon Rapids and his family made this stop-motion video of a Duluth Shipping Canal scene for a contest organized by Odyssey Resorts.
