Mystery Photos Posts

Mystery Photo #42: SS Columbia of Duluth

excursion-steamer-columbia

This postcard image bears the ink stamp of the Russell Photo Co. of Fond du Lac, Minn. on the back, along with a handwritten note: “The ‘Columbia’ of Duluth, Minn.” There have been numerous S.S. Columbia’s throughout the world, but this one seems likely to be the same as the one profiled on Zenith City Online, which was launched in 1885 as the Mascotte. There are numerous physical differences between the ship in the image shown there and the one shown here, but the article notes “in 1912 Duluth’s Clow & Nicholsen purchased the vessel, lengthened it by over thirty feet, and renamed it Columbia.” If they are the same SS Columbia, why do both images (presumably before and after the redesign of the ship) bear the name Columbia and neither Mascotte?

Mystery Photo #41: Family Portrait from the Zweifel Studio

portrait-of-a-family-by-zweifel-circa-1930

Quick internet searches indicate John Rudolph Zweifel was a Duluth-based photographer from the very late 1800s to the mid 1900s. He had a few different offices on West Superior Street and was in the Phoenix Building circa 1918-’20. His home was at 4231 McCulloch St.

Who are the round-faced darlings in the photo? Well, that’s the Hail Mary pass being thrown here for the hell of it, just to see if anyone can figure it out.

Mystery Photo #40: New Duluth Bus and Drivers

DTA Bus 1962 New Duluth

This photo popped up on Pinterest a while back. It’s dated 1962. Photographer unknown.

Duluth’s first diesel buses began operating in 1957 under the auspices of the Duluth-Superior Transit Company. The Duluth Transit Authority was created in 1969, so one could say the bus in the photo above is a DTA before there was a DTA.

Can anyone name any of the drivers?

Mystery Photo #39: Old 708

Old-708

A train rolls through western Duluth. Year unknown. Photographer unknown. The number on the train is 708. Anyone have insight?

Mystery Photos #36-38: Three Women

Minnesota Real Photo Postcard Mrs. Mohler Studio Portrait young-woman Thiel - Engalls Block Duluth

One day you’re glamorous enough for a fancy Duluth studio portrait; one-hundred years later, no one knows who you are.

At least the photo on the left comes with half of a name: “Mrs. Mohler.” Other than that, what you see is what you get for clues. Anyone who recognizes one of these women or can provide further details will be declared winner of the internet for a day.

Mystery Photo #35: Frank Lundgren and Joe Marceau

Frank Lundgren and Joe Marceau circa 1918

This mystery photo was sent by Ryan Sanders, a distant relative of the man at left in the photo above, Frank Lundgren. (Yours truly, Paul Lundgren, is no relation.) Standing next to Frank Lundgren is his brother-in-law Joe Marceau. The photo was shot somewhere in Duluth around 1918. The mystery we are looking to solve is where specifically the photo was shot.

Mystery Photo #34: UMD Majorette June Feick

June Feick UMD Majorette

This mystery photo comes from the folks at UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library. The majorette featured front and center is June Feick, leading her fellow majorettes and the UMD Marching Band during the 1952 Homecoming Parade on Superior Street in Duluth.

The mystery? “June doesn’t appear to have enrolled at UMD for the 1953-54 (school year),” reads the caption on the Kathryn A. Martin Library Facebook page. “We are curious about what happened in her life after she left UMD. Can anyone help us find more information?”
 

Mystery Photo #33: Champions 1913

Girls Champions 1913 by Louis Dworshak 1911

Who are these girls? What basketball team were they on? Why were they in a photo shot in 1911 on a postcard mailed in 1911 with “Champions 1913” written on the ball?

What we do know, based on the signature on the image, is the photo was taken by Duluth photographer Louis Dworshak, owner of the Dworshak Studio at 8 N. Second Ave. W.

Mystery Photos #22 – #32: UMD

1 Overlook

The University of Minnesota Duluth’s Alumni Association sent out an email featuring eleven old photos. The organization is collecting UMD memories for the upcoming Bridge magazine and is requesting help identifying memories and people from these heritage photographs.

Mystery Photo #21: What was Cook’s Place?

Cook's Place Duluth Cook's Place - Good for 10 cents in trade

For sale on a couple websites are tokens for Cook’s Place, 527 W. Michigan St., Duluth. What was Cook’s Place? The address puts it on the western end of where the Duluth Public Library stands today.

A listing on tokencatalog.com offers what appears to be a list of various names the business may have gone by over the years: “Moses S. Cook Saloon 1898-1912; Mayer J. Cook Saloon 1912-1916, Beverages & Restaurant 1920; Homer L. Cook Restaurant 1937-1942; J. Earl Cook Confectionery 1947-1958.”

That seems to raise some questions, though, like: How did so many different Cooks carry out 60 or more years of business in one spot? When was it called Cook’s Place? Is Mayer a first name? There was no “mayor” of Duluth named J. Cook, although Jay Cooke played a big part in Duluth’s history in the late 1800s.

What’s the deal with Cook’s Place?

Duluth Mystery Photo #20: Who was F. W. Miller?

F. W. Miller Residence on Park Point

He had a house on Park Point. That’s all we know.

Duluth Mystery Photo: Denfeld football players from 1951

Help name these Denfeld Hunters. The image above is one of three dated Nov. 29, 1951 that were listed for sale on eBay. The description read: “These three photos were of the football players from Denfeld High School in Duluth, Minnesota. The sign in the background says Public Schools Stadium. The photos are from 1951. Two of the boys are identified: Eli Miletich and Richard Wilson. Eli Miletich gained some local celebrity later in life on the Duluth Police force.”

So, who can name the other two gridiron greats from West Duluth?

Duluth Mystery Photo #18: BlueBird Landing on Lake Superior’s North Shore

This photo from the mid-1940s raises a few questions, and the Internet provides fast answers to many of them.

Mystery Photo #17: Residence of Luther Mendenhall

Residence of Luther Mendenhall

Did those asbestos shingles last a century? Is the Luther Mendenhall residence still standing? Where is it, or where was it?

Mystery Photo #16: Holm’s Kaffe Stuga

Holm's Kaffe - Fond du Lac

This photo is labeled “Holm’s Kaffe Stuga, Fond du Lac, Duluth, Minn.” From that we can assume the Fond du Lac neighborhood had a Swedish coffee cottage at some time in history. When? Where? And who is this Holm character?

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