Paul Lundgren
Postcard from the Central Motel in West Duluth
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. (more…)
Postcard from the Coal Docks in 1911
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. (more…)
Postcard from the College of St. Scholastica, 1931
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.” (more…)
Monthly Grovel: A Decade of the PDD Calendar
It was 10 years ago today — Sept. 12, 2011 — when PDD officially launched its event calendar. Since then our team of PDD Calendar cruise directors have published an estimated 68,000 listings of Duluth-area happenings — from concerts and plays to blood drives and cribbage tournaments.
In recent years we’ve reached out once a month with a beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events, and that’s what this anniversary edition of the Monthly Grovel is about. So if you appreciate the event calendar, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account. (more…)
Attack on America
It’s Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, 10:30 a.m. I’m standing in my kitchen munching on an apple. Suddenly, a huge man who looks like the professional wrestler Razor Ramon comes thundering through the front door announcing that he is an employee of the Water and Gas Department and needs to read the meter.
Without asking for identification or taking any security precautions whatsoever, I show him to the basement stairway and resume chomping on my apple. Soon, my basement housemates greet Razor Ramon and he starts talking to them about how the country is at war.
“We’re at war, dude,” I hear him say. “Haven’t you turned on the TV or the radio yet?”
I turn on the television in the living room and see a huge cloud of smoke and debris where the World Trade Center once stood. The news anchor explains that two hijacked passenger jets smashed into the towers, causing them to collapse. (more…)
Postcard from First Methodist Episcopal Church
The written message on the back of this century-old postcard is dated Sept. 9 by “Aunt Martha,” but has no postmark or other indication of the year. The card shows First Methodist Episcopal Church on the corner of Third Avenue West and Third Street in Duluth. The building stood there from 1893 to 1969. (more…)
Denfeld High School: Tower of Opportunity
Although this brochure for Denfeld High School has a 1991 copyright, the photos appear to be circa 1987-88. Alert eyeballs will spot current Denfeld principal Tom Tusken and Duluth School Board member Alanna Oswald as students in the photos. (more…)
Selective Focus: Duluth Superior Pride 2021
Instagram
166 likes, 15 comments - afrogeode on September 6, 2021: "Saturday was epic. The festival (almost) got rained out and several people would have prepared for weeks to be told their voices couldn't be heard and their art couldn't be enjoyed. BUT our beautiful rainbow community showed up and our supporters and Allies had our backs and we all got on that stage and cleaned and dried like our lives depended on it. Because in a way...it did. In a world where so many of us are told no, where our relationship and gender orientations are constantly under attack, where we are killed, brutalized, and discriminated against, there are certain sacred spaces that we get to Just Be. We did not allow our space and platforms to be taken away.
I want to thank every performer at Pride who grabbed a towel/blanket, shortened their set, prayed, kept their outfit on, stood up, called bullshit on cis het men acting like God, danced, sang, and performed while being rained on. Baby, we know rain.... and we always know how to find the Rainbow🌈
THANK YOU Jess for being a killer stage manager and being so kind and thoughtful and beautiful.
The audience that stayed through the rain to support and cheer us on!!! The energy GAVE.
And a special thanks to the band @the_nickila , @marlenaboed @emanuwill , @ianbeats__ and @courtneyofduluth !!! I'm so proud ofus!!(pictures to come) your commitment and dedication and talent made this show possible I love you all. I can't believe we found each other. AND WE HAVE MORE IN STORE FOR YOU BECAUSE WE ARE STAYING TOGETHER!!!
PC: Rachel Goossens
#theresalwaysbeenarainbowhanginoveryourhead #duluthsuperiorpride #lovewins🌈 #queeraf #bisexualpride #polyamorous #translivesmatter #protectyourfamily".
instagram.com
Four days of Duluth Superior Pride events wrapped up yesterday. Collected here are select images from Instagram of the festivities. (more…)
First stretch of Miller Trunk Road concrete laid in 1921
On Sept. 2, 1921 — 100 years ago today — crews began laying concrete paving on Miller Trunk Road near Twig. The photo above, by Louis P. Gallagher, was shot when a quarter mile of the 21-mile stretch had been completed, according to the Sept. 5 issue of the Duluth Herald.
Postcard from a Coaching Party on Boulevard Drive
This postcard bears the date of Aug. 31, 1906 — 115 years ago today. It shows horse-drawn carriages on “the Boulevard,” now known as Skyline Parkway. The illustration might be an interpretation of the Twin Ponds area; it’s not clear. The artist apparently felt the popular scenic byway’s gravel surface should be green.
The handwritten message on the card reads, “Will leave here to-day for home,” and the sender’s name looks like “Smith.”
Mystery Photo: Mr. & Mrs. Burchell
From the back of this cabinet card photo we know the subjects are Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Burchell or Burehell, married Aug. 26, 1891. They were also presumably residents of West Duluth. The photo is from the Downtown Duluth studio of John R. Zweifel. (more…)
Wally Gilbert joins Duluth football eleven in 1921
On Aug. 25, 1921 the Duluth Herald reported that former Denfeld and Valparaiso football standout Wally Gilbert had agreed to join the Duluth Knights of Columbus football team. The “K.C.” team, or “Kaysees,” turned out to be the region’s best pro football squad. Facing all Minnesota and Wisconsin teams at Athletic Park in Duluth, the team racked up a 9-0 record and outscored opponents 278-0 before dropping a playoff game in Illinois to the Rock Island Independents. (more…)
Postcard from the Aerial Lift Bridge at Night
This undated postcard, published by Zenith Interstate News Company, depicts the Duluth Ship Canal and Aerial Lift Bridge circa the early half of the 20th century. (more…)
Duluth Population: 1860 to 2020
According to the 2020 United States Census, Duluth’s population hit 86,697, up 432 people from the 2010 count but still down 20,187 from the all-time high in 1960. (more…)
Postcard from Bethany Children’s Home in 1916
This handsome structure at 4000 W. Ninth St. was originally the home of Alfred and Jane Merritt. They sold it to the Swedish Lutheran Church of West Duluth the same year this postcard was mailed, 1916, and it became an orphanage. The home was destroyed by fire on Oct. 10, 1920. (more…)
Postcard from the Hiawatha in 1961
Another postcard bearing this image was previously posted on Perfect Duluth Day, but this one bears a postmark from 60 years ago today — Aug. 15, 1961. (more…)
Postcard of a Night Scene in Duluth
This postcard was mailed Aug. 14, 1941. It shows the Aerial Lift Bridge and western Downtown Duluth buildings in the city lights and illumination from the Moon. (more…)
Duluth Cup Race of 1911
It was 110 years ago today — Aug. 12, 1911 — that the Minnetonka reached the amazing speed of 30 miles per hour and won the Duluth Cup. (more…)
Glenn Miller & the Modernaires – “Elmer’s Tune”
“Elmer’s Tune” was the first hit for Duluth songwriter Sammy Gallop. Glenn Miller & the Modernaires recorded this version 80 years ago today — Aug. 11, 1941. (more…)
Guide to Duluth-area Podcasts in 2021
About half of Duluth-area podcasts are a repackaging of radio content, but there are still plenty of independent programs covering everything from politics, history and sports to paranormal encounters and general geekery. (more…)
Postcard from Third Avenue in Hibbing, 1921
This postcard was mailed 100 years ago today — Aug. 6, 1921. The image shows Third Avenue in Hibbing looking north, including the Oliver Hotel at 422 Third Avenue. The card was published by T. C. Congdon. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: August 2021
August is a busy month at the Perfect Duluth Day Global Headquarters in West Duluth. Our team of cruise directors are hard at work updating the PDD Calendar with Duluth-area happenings — from concerts and community festivals to beer gardens and sauna experiences. Each month we reach out with one beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events. So if you appreciate it, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account. (more…)
Postcard from Marshall Wells Slip and Building
This postcard was mailed July 31, 1911 — 110 years ago today — to Miss Emma Perkins of Cleveland, Ohio. It shows what is today known as Minnesota Slip, where the William A. Irvin is docked. At right is the headquarters of Marshall-Wells Hardware Company, one of the world’s largest hardware wholesalers a century ago. (more…)
Postcard from the Alger-Smith Sawmill
This postcard was mailed July 29, 1911. By then the Alger-Smith Sawmill in West Duluth had been dismantled following a decade-long decline in the sawmilling industry.
Anyone with a century-old garage in West Duluth likely owns scraps of the Alger-Smith mill. “There must be 100 garages in West Duluth that have been built this summer out of lumber taken during the process of dismantling,” the company’s president told the Duluth Herald in a story that appeared in the Sept. 22, 1920 edition. “Every day or two some person inquires for the lumber, and when we ask him what it is for he says, ‘A garage.’ Our lumber must have built almost all of the garages in West Duluth this summer.” (more…)
Russell Method, crack backfield man
Russell G. Method, a running back from West Duluth who went on to play in the National Football League for six seasons, appears on the sports page of the Duluth Herald 100 years ago today — July 29, 1921. The caption notes he had signed to play “with the K. C. gridiron squad” that fall. (more…)