Cloquet Posts

The History of Cloquet, Pierre the Pantsless Voyageur and Duluth’s Missing Vermeer

Excerpts from Scions of Cloquet by Jean-Michel Cloquet (1946, out of print)

“In 1820, when he was 17 years old, the Frenchman Pierre Cloquet boarded a packet ship in Le Havre and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. He was trying to escape his father, like many of us try to do, perhaps all of us. He just wanted a little peace and quiet. By a certain measure, he found it in the territory eventually known as Minnesota. Pierre (or Grandpère Cloquet as my brother and I refer to him) became a legendary voyageur and fur trader 20 miles southwest of Duluth, trapping, hunting, and occasionally bear-wrestling. Over two decades of working for the American Fur Company, he built his own trading post where metal tools shipped in and beaver pelts shipped out. He gradually adopted native dress, and he married into a Black-Ojibwe family out of Michigan, sought-after guides and translators. And, right around the collapse of the beaver pelt industry in 1843, he inadvertently founded the town of Cloquet.

Why Frank Lloyd Wright designed a gas station in Cloquet

American architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright designed many famous buildings, museums and houses — including a gas station in Cloquet. Twin Cities Public Television Reporter Kaomi Lee explores the architectural destination in this video.

The Slice: Ski Jumping in Cloquet

The Cloquet Ski Club promotes ski jumping and cross-country skiing at Pine Valley Ski Area.

In its series The Slice, PBS North 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.

Anna D. Oleson, first female major-party nominee for U.S. Senate

The photo in this clipping from the Duluth Herald is dated July 10, 1922, and appears in the July 14 issue of the paper. That summer — one hundred years ago — Anna Dickie Oleson of Cloquet was campaigning to represent Minnesota in the United States Senate.

Postcard from Arch Street in Cloquet, 1912

Sidney Dahl of St. Cloud was the recipient of this postcard mailed 110 years ago today — April 23, 1912. The sender’s name was Ingga.

CBS Sunday Morning: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mäntylä House

A piece of Cloquet history popped up on CBS Sunday Morning today, but it’s in Cloquet no more. Mäntylä House, designed by visionary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, has been rebuilt at Polymath Park in southwest Pennsylvania. In the video, CBS Correspondent Lee Cowan talks with the park’s proprietors, and with the Minnesota couple whose home was moved, piece by piece.

How did the city of Cloquet get its name?

As mentioned in the “Northeastern Minnesota Nomenclature” post on Perfect Duluth Day last summer, the city of Cloquet gets its name from the Cloquet River. But how did the river get its name?

Cloquet’s Northeast Bar & Grill calls it quits

The Northeast Bar & Grill, also known as NE BBQ & Smokehouse, formally announced its closure on Facebook today. The last day of business was Oct. 12.

“We so loved our patrons and are so very sad to end the business that we loved so well,” part of the message read. “Unfortunately, we are receiving more inquiries now than we ever did while in business. That said: If you love a place, support it and patronize often. We have several surviving businesses in town that need that type of support.”

The Slice: Sliding at Pinehurst Park

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 edition features wintertime fun in Cloquet’s Pinehurst Park.

Lizzie Naganab’s Glowing Grave

The “old” cemetery off Reservation Road northwest of Cloquet.

This book sparked a search into a Cloquet mystery from 87 years ago.

I’m not sure how I acquired the book, but there it sat, on the passenger seat of my car as I drove up Reservation Road northwest of Cloquet. There are some things you wish you could unsee — because a history buff like me wants all the facts. Alas, those facts can be elusive, especially so many years from an event. This was the case with a strange little entry in Six Feet Under: A Graveyard Guide to Minnesota.

I’m not into the morbid route to history that this little guide offers. That was my mother. She had dozens of books along the lines of “Wisconsin Death Trip,” “Hollywood Book of the Dead” or “Myths and Mysteries: Strange Stories of the Dead” on her shelves. Morbidly, she died earlier this year and perhaps that is how this book floated into my stacks. She redeemed herself in recent years by ditching the stories of others and digging into her own family history, a genealogy I greatly appreciate today.

Log Rolling Contest in Cloquet

Year unknown.

World’s only Frank Lloyd Wright service station

The R. W. Lindholm Service Station at 202 Cloquet Ave. in Cloquet, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1956 and opened in 1958, is still in use. These photos are from late 1950s and early 1960s.

NE BBQ & Smokehouse now open in Cloquet

The Cloquet community gained a Southern-style restaurant last week. NE BBQ & Smokehouse, which specializes in smoked meats and barbecue, opened on July 27.

Avenue C restaurant opens in Cloquet

Avenue C in CloquetThe long-awaited Avenue C restaurant in Cloquet will open its doors to the public on Monday, Jan. 23.

Perfect Duluth Day reported in November the eatery was on track to open by Christmas, but delays in deliveries and construction pushed the date back. General Manager Ryan Kolak says, “We’re here and kicking now.”

Avenue C restaurant in Cloquet could open by year’s end

avenuec1

Doug Smith anticipates Avenue C, his new Cloquet restaurant, will open soon. The build-out was about 70 percent complete when it hit some financing snags that delayed the process. Work has now resumed and he estimates the establishment could be up and running by Christmas.