The message on this postcard of the Rustic Bridge and Pavilion in Lester Park is dated Jan. 21, 1910 — 110 years ago today — and postmarked Jan. 22. The sender’s name isn’t easy to read, but the recipient is Henry Seeam of Rice Lake, Wis.
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Jan. 15, 1910. The image is referred to on the back of the card as depicting “Duluth about 18 years ago,” which would be 1892, the year the Beacon Hill Pavilion opened at the top of the Duluth Incline.
This postcard was mailed 100 years ago today — Jan. 12, 1920. It shows the clubhouse of the Kitchi Gammi Club, which opened six years before the postcard hit the mailbag. The building still stands at 831 E. Superior St., and the organization is still active. The Kitchi Gammi Club formed in 1883, making it the oldest incorporated club in Minnesota.
This undated postcard, printed by Brown & Bigelow of St. Paul, depicts the Spalding Hotel in Downtown Duluth. The back of the card notes the Spalding was “Duluth’s Popular Rendezvous” and offered a coffee shop, cocktail lounge and bar.
The Spalding opened at 428 W. Superior St. on June 6, 1889 and was demolished on Sept. 25, 1963.
This postcard features a drawing of Duluth, Superior and the St. Louis River, and was copyrighted by Thomas W. Wahl of Wahl Realty Co. in 1908.
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Dec. 9, 1909. It shows the Aerial Transfer Bridge during the days when a ferry car transported people, automobiles and goods across the Duluth Shipping Canal.
Foreign Trade Zone #51 was approved by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 40 years ago today — Nov. 27, 1979. This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows ships in the Duluth Harbor near the Foreign Trade Terminal.
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Nov. 23, 1909. It depicts a scene on the 300 block of West Superior Street in Downtown Duluth that appears to be a Fourth of July parade.
This postcard of the Buena Vista Motel was published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography and appears to be circa the early 1970s.
For a little background on what the deal is with Edwin H. Lee, we turn to a supplement of the Nov. 1, 1913 issue of Skillings Mining and Market Letter.
The postmark on the card above is difficult to read, but it appears to have been mailed in March of 1916. It depicts the State Normal School at Duluth, which later became the State Teachers College and then the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Old Main building.
This postcard of the passenger and delivery ship America is from some point between 1902, when the Booth Steamship Line acquired the vessel, and 1928, when it sunk near Isle Royale.
More info about the vessel can be found in two other Perfect Duluth Day posts — “SS America, 1925” and “Remembering America and her life on the water.”
It’s not known who scrawled a date on this postcard, when it was scrawled, or what the date is supposed to represent. But the date is one century ago today — Oct. 5, 1919.
It could represent the date the photo was shot, but that seems unlikely. The date was probably written by someone who bought the postcard and wanted to remember the date of a visit to that spot.
This postcard of the Duluth Shipping Canal was mailed 110 years ago today — Sept. 19, 1909. The postmark fades out a bit, but other details on the card indicate it was mailed from Orr, Minn. to a resident in Duluth’s Friendly West End.
