This undated postcard from Kreiman’s Lyceum News & Book Store sports an illustration of Park Point in the vicinity of South Tenth Street, referred to as “Tenth Ave.” on the front of the card. The 72-degree temperature is cited as proof Duluth is “the air-conditioned city.”
Left: Private John Matthew McGillis, photo courtesy of Jasper van Kampen. Right: His burial place (Photo by Matthew James)
John Matthew McGillis, known to his family on Duluth’s Park Point as Jack, died on Christmas Day 1944, one day before the end of major fighting in the final German offensive of World War II. He wasn’t a combat soldier.
This Duluth News Tribune article talks about Kathy Cargill’s comments about Duluthians in the Wall St Journal.
Said a billionaire Heiress named Kathy
“The locals are yokels
Their houses are crappy”
No accounting for taste
She bulldozed in haste
And wonders why the neighbors aren’t happy
The Duluth News Tribune reports Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert wrote a letter to billionaire Kathy Cargill in February asking to discuss her plans for properties she and her representatives purchased on Park Point. The Star Tribune reports two properties sold at the end of February on Minnesota Avenue’s 1500 and 1400 blocks. Cargill’s limited liability company, North Shore LS, has acquired a dozen properties on Park Point in the past 14 months. The Strib notes “the LLC also owns a home on the point bought in 2021, and a Lake Superior shorefront condo in eastern Duluth.”
Troy Rogers, the artist behind the cart full of musical robots known as Robot Rickshaw, has developed a drill-powered blender for use on the beach. Park Point will never be the same.
This undated postcard features a trio of sunbathing beauties on Park Point circa the 1960s.
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Nov. 7, 1912. A previous Perfect Duluth Day post featured a different version of the same card, mailed four months earlier. That post includes additional background info on the lighthouse.
Also previously noted on PDD, the remains of the lighthouse have remained in roughly the same condition for more than a century.
In the early half of the 20th century Duluth was often promoted as a haven for those who suffer from hay fever. Such is the case with this postcard of a trolley car on Minnesota Point, mailed Aug. 23, 1912 — 110 years ago today.
This painting by the late Sylvia S. Reasor was sitting among the Pink Floyd lighters, Bob Marley patches, bongs, sex toys and whatnot at the Last Place on Earth liquidation auction this past weekend.
Remember the Pettersen gals photo on Point of Rocks? Well, they’ve turned up in another old Duluth pic, this time on the beach at Minnesota Point.
This postcard was mailed from Superior on Sept. 27, 1906 — 115 years ago today — by W. F. McMannis. The recipient was Miss Mabelle Reed of West Dover, Ohio. The image depicts the Duluth Incline Railway, showing the view from the top of the Duluth harbor and waterfront district, and of course Minnesota Point.
It’s almost suspicious how often I happen to be nearby when bodies are pulled out of the water. Am I a jinx or a murderer? No, I just like being by water. And it’s pretty well documented that water is a serial killer.
I’ve already written the essay “Lake Superior Wants to Kill You,” outlining just about everything I want to share on the subject of drowning. There’s one more warning worth putting forward, however, regarding the various ways you can lose your life in the water. So please keep this in mind:
I won’t try to stop you from putting yourself in danger, and it’s unlikely anyone else will, other than maybe your mommy.
Of course, you’ll probably get some general, impersonal warnings. This essay and my other essay, for starters. There are warnings in the media constantly. And then on Minnesota Point in Duluth we have those red flags and warning signs on the beach. But that’s all you get. And it’s not enough, obviously.
Telling someone about the dangers of rip currents is like warning about the potential for pregnancy. The risk vs. reward balance is quickly weighed and then it’s time to get wet.
An excerpt from the WDSE-TV special Northern Rhythms featuring Lanue.
In the latest episode of “Do Not Attempt,” Casey Rice takes a ride on a Minnesota Point iceberg.
