Minnesota Point, 1904
This cityscape photo of Minnesota Point, shot from Duluth’s hillside, is from the Detroit Publishing Company, copyright 1904.
This cityscape photo of Minnesota Point, shot from Duluth’s hillside, is from the Detroit Publishing Company, copyright 1904.
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.
While out hiking with The Big E and our daughter this weekend he reminded us both there used to be cabins on Park Point. Does anyone know when they were torn down?
The historic crumbling lighthouse on Minnesota Point has been historic and crumbling for a long time. This postcard was mailed July 12, 1912. The Duluth Preservation Alliance listed the lighthouse as #7 on it’s list of “Duluth’s Ten Most Endangered Properties in 2017.”
Year unknown, photographer unknown. Appears to have been shot in the late 1800s.
Photographer unknown, year unknown. This appears to have been shot from near the edge of the parking lot at the hilltop Central High School location.
Never mind the seasonal sentiment, this postcard was sent in the summer. It was in the trusted hands of the United States Postal Service 110 years ago, traveling from Duluth to South Dakota. It was postmarked at Duluth on Sept. 4 and received in Carthage, S.D. on Sept. 6, 1907.
It was shot just a few hundred feet from Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge, but it evokes the spirit of being in a far more remote part of the planet. Hansi Johnson’s “photo that won’t die” is so-named because in recent years it’s been in Outside magazine, the Red Bulletin, the Italian news magazine Panorama, a few calendars and as Johnson notes, it’s “been ripped off and passed around more times than I care to admit.”
Add two more to the list: Men’s Journal recently included the image among its “25 Best Adventure Photos of the Past 25 Years.” The back cover of a new book from Outside magazine, “The Edge of the World,” also features the image.
The prime beach-going days are numbered, so if you’ve got a chance to go, you’d better go. This week in Selective Focus, we’re taking it easy, taking a look at life on #parkpoint.
Back in May, Clare Kolars was “yearning for the sea,” so she traveled from River Falls to Duluth with a friend to spend time by the closest thing — Lake Superior.
In the pilot episode of a new “musical series aiming to explore sources of inspiration and intrigue,” Minneapolis-based soft-noise artist Todd Luffa performs on the beach at Minnesota Point in Duluth.
The Lyte Source series was created by director Gordon Byrd and producer Aubree Miller of Minneapolis, who “aim to bring performances to settings too intimate or bizarre for audiences to normally inhabit. To capture a sensory experience and transform it into a unique collaboration.”
A giant asterisk has appeared on Park Point, leading some observers to wonder: Does this beach have a caveat?
