Great Lakes Ships and Shipping Industry Posts

Postcard from a Foreign Vessel at the Aerial Lift Bridge

This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography depicts a “foreign vessel going under famous Aerial Lift Bridge,” according to the caption on the back.

PDD Video Lab: Starbelle and the Aerial Lift Bridge

In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we watch the bulk carrier Starbelle pass through the Duluth Ship Canal and under the Aerial Lift Bridge via footage from Richter Home Movies. The final 15 seconds features a nice look at Canal Park circa the early 1960s.

Duluth You & Me: Canal Park

Use the link below for a printable PDF for your coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Canal Park

Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.

Postcard from Duluth’s Waterfront

This undated postcard, published by Zenith Interstate Company of Duluth, with Plastichrome by Colourpicture Publishers of Boston, appears to be circa the early 1960s.

The caption on the back reads:

A Panoramic View of Duluth, Minnesota
The Harbor at Duluth-Superior is the second largest harbor in the world in total tonnage handled annually. More than 10,000 ships arrive and depart annually from the Duluth-Superior Harbor.

Arrival of Hon. James L. Oberstar in Duluth

A crowd of photographers and ship watchers convened at Canal Park on Jan. 14 to watch the Oberstar glide through the icy water concluding its final voyage of the shipping season. Come along for the ride as the ship chugs out hot plumes of steam and cuts a path through the ice.

Postcard of Foreign Ships in Duluth Harbor

Foreign Trade Zone #51 was approved by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 40 years ago today — Nov. 27, 1979. The first shipment arrived on April 12, 1983. This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows ships in the Duluth Harbor near the Foreign Trade Terminal.

Steamer Augustus B. Wolvin, “Queen of the Lakes”

This image from Detroit Publishing Company shows the Great Lakes freighter Augustus B. Wolvin on Lake Superior at Duluth. The vessel was built for the Acme Steamship Company of Duluth and launched April 9, 1904. The Library of Congress dates the image above as “between 1904 and 1910.”

Mystery Photo #77: Passenger Boat arriving in Duluth

Date unknown. Photographer unknown. Name of vessel unknown.

Ready? Set? Go!

Postcard from the Steamer Thomas F. Cole

This postcard depicts the Thomas F. Cole in the Duluth shipping channel on her maiden trip to Duluth. The message on the back of the card appears to be dated Sept. 1, 1908.

Freighter American Spirit runs aground near Aerial Lift Bridge

Photo by Mark Nicklawske

The Aerial Lift Bridge is closed to ship traffic after a 1,004-foot freighter ran aground in the Duluth harbor around 3:30 p.m. today.

Harbor Lookout: Duluth Port Ship Tracking

There’s a new website for those who like watching the ships roll in and then watching them roll away again. Saturn Systems, a Duluth-based software engineering firm, recently launched a shipping tracker at harborlookout.com. The site lists arrival and departure times and displays a map with icons showing ship locations.

Duluth News Tribune: New maritime website unveiled in Duluth

Video Archive: Plugging the hole of the thousand-foot shitter

It was ten years ago that KBJR-TV news reporter Julie Pierce made her famous slip-of-the-tongue while referring to the 1,000-foot motor vessel Walter J. McCarthy Jr. The video clip above, viewed more than 200,000 times in the past decade, also shows KBJR misspelling “McCarthy” on its graphic; so it goes.

PDD Video Lab: Ghost Ship Emerges

Dawn LaPointe and Gary Fiedler of Radiant Spirit Gallery captured the Joseph L. Block emerging through the sea smoke like a ghost. The morning temperature was -20°F with a -40°F windchill. The video was processed at an 8x speed.

As is usually the case with the PDD Video Lab, we’ve supplied a soundtrack to the silent video. Press play on the audio file below, then press play on the video file and enjoy the marriage. The track is “Cold” by Duluth band Woodblind.

Mystery Photo #58: Steamer Perry G. Walker

Although the date Dec. 11 is recorded on this image, it’s not clear what year it was when the steamer Perry G. Walker arrived in Duluth covered in ice. It’s also not clear if this is a photo or an illustration … or an illustrated photo.

How much ship traffic goes through Superior Entry?

It seems most ship traffic going onto the lake from Duluth-Superior goes through the canal under the Aerial Lift Bridge. How much ship traffic uses the Superior Entry, which is between Minnesota Point and Wisconsin Point? Only the ships going to and from Allouez?

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