Aerial Lift Bridge Posts

Corner of the Lake, 1963

This photo by Lyman E. Nylander is dated April 28, 1963 — 60 years ago today. It shows several Canal Park icons — the Aerial Lift Bridge, Duluth Harbor North Breakwater Lighthouse, Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum — but the Duluth Lakewalk is still decades away from being built.

Because of the I-35 tunnel, with Gichi-ode’ Akiing / Lake Place Park built on top of it, shooting a modern photo from this perspective would be either challenging or impossible.

Best wishes from Cousin Mildred

Postcard from a Section of the Duluth Harbor and Railroad Yards

This postcard, published by the Henricksen Agency of Duluth circa 1930, shows the Duluth waterfront, railroad yards and Aerial Lift Bridge.

The Committee for Building a Giant Colossal Statue of Bob Dylan

Proposal: Building a Giant Colossal Statue of Bob Dylan in Lake Superior by Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge Canal.

Highlights from “The Guys Who Never Stop Fighting”

My comic strip “The Guys Who Never Stop Fighting” originally appeared a few times in the Ripsaw News in my “Crackbrained Comix” series. I revived the GWNSF for the Transistor where it ran for several years. Both publications are now defunct. Here is a gallery of ten highlights.

Aerial Lift Bridge, Duluth MN

AI illustrator Stable Diffusion from the prompt “Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, MN”

Postcard from the Entrance to the Duluth-Superior Harbor

This postcard of the Aerial Bridge, circa 1915-1925, notes its span is “393 feet 9 inches, 135 feet high from water line” and its construction cost was $100,000. The image shows a ferry car being transferred across the canal. The bridge’s era as a transfer bridge ran from March 27, 1905 to July 1, 1929.

Is Duluth, Minnesota really paradise?

Canal Park souvenir invites tourists to envision a lift bridge over the Mississippi

Some years ago, I had a Duluth nameplate hanging from the back of my bicycle, which I suppose is why I impulsively bought another when I saw it recently in a Canal Park souvenir shop. I vaguely remember the one I had purchased in my younger years having a generic cityscape and not actually showing Duluth.

This one seemed no different, and might even be the same design, but this time I noticed that the building on the far left had a rather specific architecture. Checking with a group of skyscraper-obsessed friends led me to a conclusion that I should have reached myself: this Duluth souvenir depicts the skyline of St. Paul.

Flame Excursion Boat during Portorama 1962

This photograph by Lyman E. Nylander was shot 60 years ago during the Duluth Seaway Portorama of 1962. The 108-passenger Flame served as a tourist excursion boat in Duluth from 1961 to 1973. It was replaced by the 256-passenger Vista Queen.

The Flame is now operating in Buffalo, N.Y.

PDD Video Lab: Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge, July 2022

In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve taken a recently shot silent drone video by YouTube user IndyDroner and added music from Robert Plant’s 2017 album Carry Fire. The track is titled “Heaven Sent.”

Postcard from the Famous Aerial Lift Bridge in 1972

On a Monday evening 50 years ago, someone named Ruth Ellen sent this postcard to Dee Ann Faerber of Independence, Mo. “The trees are beautiful,” she wrote. “Rain is supposed to stop Tuesday.”

Duluth sailboat crash in ship fail video compilation

The sailboat that crashed into the Aerial Lift Bridge on May 16, 2018 has made it into this recent “Ship Crash Compilation” on the YouTube channel “Crashing Zone” (@ the 1-minute mark).

Postcard from Duluth, St. Lawrence Seaways Westerly Terminus

This undated postcard, published by Northern Minnesota Novelties of Crosslake, Minn., offers a nice pre-freeway aerial view of Downtown Duluth on it’s upper image and a shot of the Aerial Lift Bridge and shipping canal on the lower side.

Postcard from a View on Duluth’s Hillside

This undated postcard shows Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge, ships on the lake, the Duluth Arena-Auditorium, parts of the Downtown and Canal Park areas and more circa perhaps 1980 or so.

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