Great Lakes Ships and Shipping Industry Posts

The Wreck of the Adella Shores

On April 29, 1909, the Adella Shores was bound for Duluth with a cargo of 9,200 barrels of salt. The ship never arrived. Disappearing in a gale off Whitefish Point, Michigan, the location of the 195-foot wreck remained one of the lake’s unsolved mysteries. But the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum has found it.

DuluthiLeaks: Duluth Foghorn Facts

It’s been 100 years since Duluth’s original diaphone fog siren was installed at the Duluth Shipping Canal. That siren was decommissioned by the Coast Guard in 1968 and replaced by an electric whistle. In 1983 another old diaphone foghorn was acquired and installed. It was used on a ceremonial basis until 1995, then returned to regular service as a maritime aid to navigation. Community members immediately complained it was too loud. The controversy raged on until the horn was dismantled in 2006.

For the sixth edition of DuluthiLeaks — Perfect Duluth Day’s series in which public documents are presented as if they contain secret information leaked from an anonymous whistle blower — we present “Duluth Foghorn Facts,” a document and collection of images compiled by Jeffrey L. Laser of Bellville, Ohio. At some point after 1996, Laser put together the information below, delving into the nitty gritty of the diaphone foghorn that was housed in the Duluth South Breakwater Outer Light from 1983 to 2006.

Postcard from Three Ore Carriers at DM&IR Docks

This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows the ore carriers Wm. B. Schilier, Peter A. B. Widener and Henry Phipps at the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range docks in West Duluth.

All three vessels were built for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company. The Schilier was sold for scrapping in 1978 in Duluth. The Widener was sold for scrapping in 1986 and towed to Lisbon, Portugal in 1987. The Phipps was sold for scrapping in 1976 in Duluth.

Postcard from a Great Lakes Packet Freighter

This undated postcard, published by Zenith Interstate News Company, shows a Great Lakes packet freighter passing through the Duluth Shipping Canal under the Aerial Lift Bridge.

Postcards from the Launching of a 600-foot Freighter

Although the postcard caption above reads “Launching of a 600 ft Freighter, Duluth, Minn.,” the vessel in the image appears to be the SS Edward Y. Townsend, which was built in Superior.

Postcard from Tugboats Record and Sinclair

Icebreaking in the Duluth Harbor is expected to start this week, with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Spar clearing the way for the start of another shipping season.

The postcard above is from the early 1900s and shows the tugboats Record and Sinclair breaking ice in the Duluth Harbor.

Steamships from Buffalo to Duluth, 1901

This advert from Life magazine promotes trips from Buffalo through Chicago and Milwaukee to Duluth. I found it on the Internet Archive.

OMG, that’s a lot of smoke in this video

I’m plunking about in the Archive.org site, and this video shows the Duluth harbor as a dystopian nightmare of smoke at about 2:30.

What an amazing transformation how we fuel our ships and how we imagine our port.

Postcard from Unloading Coal in 1912

This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Sept. 20, 1912. The recipient was Mr. Guss Ferdettel [or Ferdellet?] of Bentley, Mich.

SS Meteor: The Last of the Whalebacks

Built in 1896, the SS Meteor is the last surviving above-water whaleback ship in the world. It operated until 1969 and is now a museum ship on Barker’s Island in Superior. The documentary embedded above was created by Duluth Film Company, a division of GOV Productions.

Minnesota Historia: Superior Shipwrecks

Everybody knows the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the most famous shipwreck on Lake Superior. But what are the next five most fascinating shipwreck stories on the big lake called Gitchi Gumee? And is the #2 shipwreck story the scariest thing you’ll ever hear?

Minnesota Historia is a six-part WDSE-TV web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.

The Slice: Breaking Ice

This episode of The Slice was shot on the Coast Guard’s new ice-breaking vessel Hollyhock.

In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.

Postcard from the Opening of Navigation Season

This undated postcard shows a freighter entering the Duluth Shipping Canal at some point in the early 1900s.

Postcard from the Arthur M. Clure Public Marine Terminal

This postcard was mailed on Dec. 14, 1971 — 50 years ago today. Mrs. W. A. Gramley of Wheaton, Ill. was the recipient. The sender’s name looks something like Evie.

Postcard from the Steamer David Z. Norton

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.