Photographers William Caswell and William Henry Davy ran a studio in Duluth circa 1870-75 and were responsible for many of the stereographs circulated during the era. The image above depicts a typical winter scene along the shore of Lake Superior.
This undated postcard features an image of the lighthouse on the Minnesota Point side of the Duluth Ship Canal. The card must be from the first half of the 20th Century, because the postage rate noted on the back is one cent and the U.S. postcard rate switched to two cents in 1952. The lighthouse was first lit in 1901 and remains there today. It was sold at auction in 2008 to Steven Sola and Matt Kampf, but the U.S. Coast Guard continues to maintain it.
This ad appeared in the Duluth Herald newspaper 100 years ago — Sept. 4, 1920. The Minnesota Point Lighthouse was built in 1858, and it seems its deterioration happened largely in its first 62 years.
Duluth native Ben Rosenbush penned a song about the Zenith City for his band’s second album. Ben Rosenbush and the Brighton‘s 2012 release, A Wild Hunger, included a track titled simply “Duluth.”
COVID-19 kept the Mighty Thomas Carnival from making its annual summer appearance in Duluth. Instead, we get our Ferris wheel kicks from the photo archive.
Ah, the days of streetcars on Park Point.
The written message on this postcard is dated June 14, 1910, which matches the postmark. It was mailed out of St. Paul to Miss Laura Werdin of Janesville, Wis.
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Park Point Beach
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
An incident on Park Point about two weeks ago has raised the question of whether it’s legal for women to be topless on Park Point beaches. Fox 21 reported over the weekend that Duluth photographer Michelle Bennett was “approached by a Duluth officer who didn’t know if he could arrest her” for exposing her breasts in public.
This photo from Detroit Publishing Company shows the view looking out from Duluth’s hillside at Cascade Park toward the Downtown area and Minnesota Point. William Henry Jackson is credited as the photographer.
The Library of Congress dates the image as circa 1902, but research by Mark Ryan for the story “W. H. Jackson’s Photographs of Duluth” for Zenith City Press puts the time of Jackson’s visit to Duluth as the summer of 1899.
This photo from the Detroit Publishing Company shows the Duluth Boat Club on the bay side of Minnesota Point at South Tenth Street. A previous clubhouse existed where Bayfront Park is today, but the facility shown in the photo above was built in 1903 and was destroyed by fire in 1951.
This cityscape photo of Minnesota Point, shot from Duluth’s hillside, is from the Detroit Publishing Company, copyright 1904.
This photo from the National Archive was taken on an airplane from the McCook Field aviation experimentation station in Dayton, Ohio, which was flying in the region for a photographic mapping expedition of the Canadian border in October and November of 1925.
The caption on the photo reads:
Duluth Harbor Basin, the main business section and portions of Lake Superior, showing the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” the Aerial Bridge connecting Duluth proper with a long neck of land known as Minnesota Point, which really makes the Duluth Superior Harbor.
Due to standing water in the Canal Park business district, the city has temporarily closed South Lake Ave and Canal Park Drive below Buchanan Street.
Beyond Buchanan Street there is debris and open manholes beneath the water, so traveling on foot is highly discouraged. Waves are expected to increase into the evening, which could make water levels too deep for vehicles.
