History
Postcard from Duluth’s Waterfront in 1916
This postcard of Duluth’s waterfront and manufacturing district was mailed May 25, 1916 — 110 years ago today. Among the fuzzy buildings on the shoreline is F. A. Patrick Woolen Mills at 302 S. Fifth Ave. W., which is on the left and is the only building with readable lettering on it. (more…)
Postcard from Enger Tower
This undated postcard, published by Erickson Post Cards & Souvenirs, shows the five-story lookout tower at Duluth’s Enger Park circa the early 1970s. (more…)
Rip-saw publisher John L. Morrison died in 1926
Newspaper publisher John L. Morrison died 100 years ago today — May 18, 1926. As “head sawyer” of the Duluth Rip-saw, he was known for his unrelenting attacks on local politicians, which led to a gag order that shut his publication down. Five years after his mysterious death at the age of 62, Morrison was vindicated by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled the Public Nuisance Law violated the First Amendment of the United States Constitution protecting the freedom of the press. (more…)
Duluthy Stickers
Duluth-themed stickers created by artist Samantha Nielsen.
A previous post on Perfect Duluth Day featured “Duluth Band Stickers.” Now we present the rest of the adherent merch representing Duluthy stuff. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Guns, Booze and Cards
Cowboy outfits featuring furry chaps were a favorite costume of photo subjects at G. E. Sackett’s Owl Studio in Duluth during the early 1900s. Several Mystery Photos on Perfect Duluth Day feature unnamed dudes dressed as buckaroos. This is the first time we’ve seen a lawman in one of these old postcards, however. (more…)
Webber Hospital under construction in West Duluth in 1926
One hundred years ago today — May 8, 1926 — the Duluth Herald reported on construction of a new hospital in West Duluth. Webber Hospital opened at 5601 Grand Ave. in March 1927. (more…)
Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907, Part 2: The Windsor Hotel and Surrounding Businesses
This ten part series takes a detailed look at life on Superior Street on the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 11, 1907 based on a single photograph. The first part of the series provided background details on the photograph itself. Part two focuses on the bottom right corner of the photograph, relating to the contentious history between the city and the owner of the Windsor Hotel and telling the stories of the surrounding businesses. (more…)
Postcard from Somebody’s House
This undated postcard shows Somebody’s House, a restaurant at Duluth’s Mt. Royal Shopping Center operated by noted cookbook author Beatrice Ojakangas. It opened in February 1966. (more…)
The Decline and Rebirth of the St. Louis River
This WDIO-TV news feature shares the story of the St. Louis River. Once too polluted to fish, the waterway is nearing removal from the Environmental Protection Agency’s contaminated Areas of Concern list after years of cleanup and habitat restoration.
Postcard from the National Guard Armory in Duluth
This undated postcard shows the Duluth Armory at 1305 London Road. It was built in 1915 and served as a center for military training and an entertainment venue until 1978. During the 1980s and ’90s, the city of Duluth used the building to store fleet vehicles. The Armory Arts and Music Center, in partnership with Sherman Associates, is in the process of redeveloping the building, with plans for a public marketplace and community kitchen, office and business space, and arts and music programming.
Postcards from Superior Street at Fifth Avenue West
The intersection of Fifth Avenue West and Superior Street — featuring the Lyceum Theatre and Spalding Hotel — is near the top of the list of Duluth scenes featured most frequently in early 20th century Duluth postcards. Many have been featured on Perfect Duluth Day in the past, but we’re pretty sure the six in this post have not appeared on this website previously. (more…)
Postcard from a Giant Freighter in Duluth Ship Canal
At the top of the postcard pile today is an undated image from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography. The caption on the back reads: “Giant Freighter entering Canal of Duluth Superior Harbor, Westerly Terminus of the St. Lawrence Seaway.”
Superior Street, Sept. 11, 1907, Part 1: Introduction
Superior Street, 1907.
The image above comes from a high resolution scan of Superior Street looking east toward Fifth Avenue West. It has been shared online many times before, including on Perfect Duluth Day. For those who have wondered about the businesses visible and half-hidden in the photo and the stories behind them, this series has some answers. Using the Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub to match photo elements with newspaper articles, it describes a maritime birth, a crooked pawn shop owner, and an ingenious inventor in its tales of both incredible wealth and stark poverty on Superior Street in 1907. (more…)
Postcard from the John A. Blatnik Bridge
This undated postcard, circa the mid 1990s, shows the Blatnik Bridge connecting Duluth and Superior. The card was published by Erickson Post Cards & Souvenirs and the photo is credited to Grandmaison Photography. (more…)
Postcard from the Court House at Duluth
This undated postcard, created by the V.O. Hammon Publishing Company, shows the St. Louis County Courthouse in Downtown Duluth, which opened in 1909.
Men in Suits by Gust Landin
These two unknown men were photographed in suits by Gust Landin, a photographer based in “Duluth’s Scandinavian West End” at 24 21st Ave. W. According to the memories referenced here, Mr. Landin provided suits to his subjects if they wanted to look more affluent. That perhaps explains the ill-fitting suit on the younger man. (more…)
Postcard from the Duluth/Superior Interstate Bridge
This undated postcard, published by the Illustrated Postal Card Company of New York, shows the Duluth/Superior Interstate Bridge, referred to on the front of the card simply as the “Duluth and Superior Bridge.” (more…)
Ripped at 21 North in 2006
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the drunken compendium of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a visit to 21 North, a short-lived nightclub at 21 N. Fourth Ave. W. in the Duluth Athletic Club building, and composed this article for the March 13, 2006 edition of the Ripsaw newspaper. 21 North closed in April 2007, when the Tap Room moved out of the Fitger’s building into its space. Less than a year later, the Tap Room closed.]
The first thought I have as I walk into 21 North is that somehow, suddenly, I’ve managed to walk into a room full of the type of guys who shave their pubes. Please don’t misunderstand; everyone here is fully clothed. This is just a suspicion I have. We’re talking hairy stomachs, hairy legs and a big pink arc of smoothness around the genitals.
I order a $4 whiskey-Coke, and it’s amazing how weak it is. While I might complain about a lot in this town, one thing’s for certain: No matter where you go, you rarely get a weak pour. Why the hell would a bartender care how much booze you get? In fact, it’s in his best interest to get you hammered because drunk people are very loose and generous with their money. Luckily, I’ve developed a policy for places like this: First sip, then tip. (more…)
A & Dubs set to reopen this summer
Computer-generated illustration of A & Dubs in Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood courtesy of the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Duluth’s iconic A & Dubs seasonal drive-in restaurant will reopen after sitting idle for two summers. The new owners, Mike Koralia and Ryan Spears, wrote in a post on the A & Dubs Facebook page they plan to announce an opening date soon. (more…)
Six Century-old Postcards from Duluth
Not much is known about the six postcards featured here, but they all have appeared in recent eBay sales by LL Vintage Antiques of St. Paul. They are collected in this post simply because they are of a similar style and are cards that haven’t appeared on Perfect Duluth Day before. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #14: The Last of the Transporter Bridges
Germany’s Osten-Hemmoor Bridge with a postcard of Duluth’s transporter bridge in the foreground. (Photo by Matthew James; postcard from the University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University Archives)
Growing up in Duluth, I often heard that the lift bridge was the only bridge of its type in the world. I later learned that the world is full of lift bridges. Wikipedia lists 137 of them. But that doesn’t mean the claim isn’t true. The lift bridge was once a transporter bridge, a far more rare type of bridge. Aside from various hand-cranked bridges that basically amount to art projects, fewer than two dozen transporter bridges have ever been built anywhere in the world. Only eight of those are still in use. And the world only has one converted transporter bridge in operation: Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge. This Duluth Deep Dive takes a closer look at what Duluth’s bridge was like before its conversion by recounting my visit to two of the world’s remaining transporter bridges. One is the closest surviving counterpart to Duluth’s original canal bridge. The other gives a sense what the Duluth bridge might have looked like if the city had modernized the gondola instead of making the conversion to a lift bridge. (more…)
The S.S. Meteor Placemat
Found at a thrift store in Webster: a packet of 50 paper placemats promoting tours of the SS Meteor in Superior.
Duluth looked best on paper in 1906
Some harsh criticism from a postcard sender 120 years ago.
Postcard from a Bird’s-eye View of the Duluth Post Office in 1916
This postcard was mailed Feb. 23, 1916 — 110 years ago today. It shows the beginnings of the Duluth Civic Center, with the old Duluth Post Office at the center. (more…)
Ripped at the Red Lion in 2001
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the drunken compendium of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. Twenty-five years ago the Sultan of Sot paid a Valentine’s Day visit to the legendary Red Lion Bar in Duluth, and composed this article for the Feb. 21, 2001 edition of the Ripsaw newspaper. The ol’ “Roar by the Shore” closed in 2007 and is now the location of Zeitgeist Arts Café.]
So, it’s Valentine’s Day and here I am at one of my favorite watering holes, the Red Lion — the fucken Roar by the Shore. By all standards, this is not supposed to be the day to get ripped out of my godforsaken gourd. This is supposed to be the day to wear pink and purple, eat a whole helluva lot of candy and watch Richard Gere movies. I ask you this: Could there be a better day to puke your guts out?
The Red Lion is always awesome; it doesn’t matter if it’s full of pathetic drunks or young hip-ocrites slumming with Black Labels (the beer or the band). Either way, it’s full of my favorite folks on earth. Tonight it seems to be a good mixture of wasted middle-aged sots and good-looking lesbians: Yes, these are my people. (more…)