Postcard from the lobby of Duluth’s McKay Hotel
This undated postcard, published by Bloom Brothers Company of Minneapolis, offers a view of the lobby of the Hotel McKay, which stood at 430 W. First St. in Downtown Duluth from 1901 to about 1965.
This undated postcard, published by Bloom Brothers Company of Minneapolis, offers a view of the lobby of the Hotel McKay, which stood at 430 W. First St. in Downtown Duluth from 1901 to about 1965.
This undated postcard of Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge appears to be circa the 1960s, but perhaps there is a clue in there somewhere to narrow the date down.
This undated postcard of Duluth’s Lyceum Theatre does not appear to have been mailed, though it does have a message on the back.
This postcard was mailed on Nov. 13, but the year on the postmark is blurred so we’re going to estimate it was about 80 years ago.
The American Fur Company began trading on the St. Louis River at Fond du Lac in 1817 and continued until 1847. A replica was built as a tourist attraction in 1935, and that’s what is depicted in the postcard image. The replica was demolished in the late 1960s.
This undated postcard shows the 500-foot Steamer David Z. Norton loading 3,000 bushels of wheat in the Duluth Harbor. Note the postcard has “J” as the middle initial of David Norton. That is presumably a misprint. David Zadock Norton was a director of the American Ship Building Company and the namesake of the ship.
And now, a little something for the ladies. The St. Louis Hotel was Duluth’s premier lodging establishment in the 1880s. It stood where the Medical Arts Building is today.
Keeping Duluth’s shipping channels open requires occasional dredging. This undated postcard offers a look at the process in the early 20th century.
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.
Geeks will help out in the comments, but it appears what we have here is a QSL card — a postcard mailed to confirm receipt of a ham or citizens-band radio transmission. The CM 76 presumably means it was a calling card of Duluth ham radio operator Charles F. Makowski circa 1976.
This postcard appears to have never been mailed, but it has the name of a recipient on the back and is dated Oct. 3, 2001 — 20 years ago today. The card was published by Erickson Post Cards & Souvenirs in Hermantown, and the photo is credited to Benjamin Fondrik.
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.
And the award for best Duluth photo of 1911 pretty much has to go to this postcard image of three gals on Point of Rocks looking out over the city. And someone was smart enought to write their names on the back. Nora, Emma and Inga Pettersen posed for this shot 110 years ago.
This postcard of the Central Motel was mailed Sept. 20, 1956 — 65 years ago today. The address, 24 N. Central Ave., is now greenspace across Main Street from Irving Park. The land is controlled by the idled Duluth paper mill, which was sold by Verso Corporation in May to ST Paper.
This postcard was mailed Sept. 18, 1911 — 110 years ago today. For some reason it took more than a month to reach it’s destination. It bears a second postmark of Oct. 26; indicating it took 38 days to travel about 250 miles from Duluth to Miss Martha Moe in Wood Lake.
This postcard of the College of St. Scholastica was mailed Sept. 13, 1931 — 90 years ago today. Robert Strauss of Snyder, N.Y. was the recipient. The message on the back is from his parents, who write: “Hello Boy. On our way to Seattle.”
