Canal Park Posts

Duluth Urban Design Project: Highway 61 Revisited

May 27, 2020 No Comments

What better time could there be for sharing grand expensive visions than during a pandemic, when Duluth and virtually all municipalities are under tremendous financial duress?

Hey, ideas are just ideas, right?

A group of designers and unofficial community planners known as the Duluth Waterfront Collective has been working on a “what-if?” project called Highway 61 Revisited. The basic task is to redesign the I-35 corridor where it splits Downtown Duluth and the Canal Park Business District.

Read More


Recommendations , , ,

Watchin’ the Lego ships roll in

May 01, 2020 No Comments

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.

Read More


Videos , ,

Duluth You and Me: Carriage Rides at Canal Park

Apr 29, 2020 No Comments

Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Carriage Rides at Canal Park

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


Art ,

Duluth You & Me: Canal Park Marine Museum

Apr 26, 2020 No Comments

Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Canal Park Marine Museum

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


Art ,

Duluth You & Me: Seagulls at Canal Park

Apr 25, 2020 No Comments

Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Seagulls at Canal Park

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


Art , ,

PDD Video Lab: Starbelle and the Aerial Lift Bridge

Apr 23, 2020 1 Comment

In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we watch the bulk carrier Starbelle pass through the Duluth Ship Canal and under the Aerial Lift Bridge via footage from Richter Home Movies. The final 15 seconds features a nice look at Canal Park circa the early 1960s.

Read More


History, Videos , , , ,

Duluth You & Me: Canal Park

Apr 18, 2020 No Comments

Use the link below for a printable PDF for your coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Canal Park

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


Art , ,

Postcard from Duluth’s Lighthouse Lot in Canal Park

Apr 15, 2020 2 Comments

This undated postcard from the Gallagher Studio of Photography shows the parking lot near the Duluth Shipping Canal, which is known as the Lighthouse Lot.

The caption on the back of the card reads:

Canal Park in Duluth, Minnesota
Westerly Terminus of the St. Lawrence Seaway


History, Photos , ,

Eight winter sunsets over the harbor

Mar 18, 2020 No Comments

Presented in order from my Instagram account @lakesuperioraquaman. These chronicle the freezing over and thawing out of the harbor, from 12/31 to 2/7. Each picture was taken from out behind Vikre Distillery after one Salty Dog.


Outdoors, Photos , ,

Upcoming Duluthy Projects

Feb 22, 2020 No Comments

This Duluth Canal Cam screenshot viewed in Austin, Texas suggests a worldwide performance staged here is not only possible, but desirable

1.) The Duluth Canal Cam Dancers and Marching Band. This is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 29, at 4:30 p.m.

Facebook event
PDD calendar listing

Read More


Art, Music, Outdoors, Photos , , ,

Arrival of Hon. James L. Oberstar in Duluth

Jan 15, 2020 1 Comment

A crowd of photographers and ship watchers convened at Canal Park on Jan. 14 to watch the Oberstar glide through the icy water concluding its final voyage of the shipping season. Come along for the ride as the ship chugs out hot plumes of steam and cuts a path through the ice.


Videos , , ,

The Start of the Great Thaw of 2019

Mar 14, 2019 No Comments

Dennis O’Hara presents the new Canal Cam capturing the March 12 sunrise, the beginning of the meltdown before the rain storm.


Videos , , ,

Postcards from Neptune

Feb 06, 2019 2 Comments

This statue of Neptune stood on the edge of Duluth’s shipping canal from 1959 to 1963. The text on the back of the postcard reads:

Neptune — Symbolic Ruler of the Sea
This statue was given Duluth by the State Fair Board and the land loaned by the Corps of Engineers at Canal Park, Duluth, Minn. to commemorate the arrival of the first deep draft ocean going vessel in to Duluth on May 3, 1959. Neptune was God of the Sea — son of Cronus and Rhea. The Greeks called him Poseidon. He was Jupiter’s brother. Neptune controlled all the waters of the earth and was worshiped by sailors. The 3 prong spear he carried was called Trident.

Read More


History , ,

Endion Station to be converted into ‘brewtique’ hotel

Feb 05, 2019 No Comments

A former railroad depot will soon become Duluth’s first “brewtique” hotel.

Read More


News and Current Affairs , ,

Geek out on this Canal Park history map

Dec 27, 2018 No Comments

Students enrolled in a Fall 2018 visual journalism course at the University of Minnesota Duluth used ArcGIS software to tell stories about Canal Park using mapping technology. The collaborative project tells 25 stories spanning more than 100 years.

Link: A History of Canal Park

Students curated visual materials and other sources for this project from various places that include the UMD Kathryn A. Martin Library; UMD Archives & Special Collections; the Duluth News Tribune archives; Zenith City Press and other publicly available sources.


History