History
Last issue of the Duluth Herald
Forty years ago today — July 30, 1982 — the Duluth Herald newspaper was published for the last time. The first issue was published April 9, 1883, and its cover appeared as artwork on the final edition. (more…)
Mystery Photo: 1962 State and Sectional Champs
This photo was acquired at the Ellefson Estate Sale in the Upper Cody part of West Duluth in 2019. It shows a youth baseball team with players wearing different jerseys, suggesting perhaps it’s an all-star squad or the team had multiple sponsors. The sponsor names on the shirts are: Kelley Duluth, City Bottling, YOT (Young Old Timers), Gately’s, West Arrow Chevrolet, Moose 1478 … and one looks like it might be M&J Super Value (the bottom word is blocked by the players forearms). Two jerseys are plain white; those players have an M on their caps while the other players have caps with no lettering.
The writing on the back of the photo gives the biggest clue: “1962 State & Sectional Champs.” But the names of the players and coaches are lost to history unless a nerd or two step up and solve the mysteries. (more…)
Postcard from a Bird’s-eye View of Duluth in 1912
Postmarked July 27, 1912, this image shows Downtown Duluth from an Observation Hill vantage point. A different version of this postcard was posted on Perfect Duluth Day a bit more than a year ago, sparking some discussion about the vantagepoint of the image and the likelihood that it represents Duluth circa 1900. (In other words, the image likely represents a scene in Duluth from 12 years before the card was mailed.)
The card in this post is simply for the purpose of marking 110 years since it was sent and recognizing the oddly simplistic message written on the back. (more…)
Postcard from the Elevators on Rice’s Point
This undated postcard from the Rotograph Company is captioned “Elevators, Superior Harbor, Duluth, Minn.” and features a view of Rice’s Point and the Duluth/Superior Harbor.
According to an article on the Canada Lakes Conservation Association website, the Rotograph Company was based in New York City and was “a major publisher and printer of postcards from 1904-1911.”
Mystery Photo: Cowboys and a Clown
The previous Mystery Photos post on Perfect Duluth Day featured four different fake cowboy photos shot at Owl Studio in Duluth circa 1912. Another recently popped up on ebay and quickly sold, this time with some kind of clown joining the cowboys. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Portorama
Test your knowledge of the bygone Duluth Seaway Portorama in this week’s quiz! To learn more about this festival, check out the Duluth Public Library’s Vintage Duluth blog.
The next PDD quiz sails your way on July 31; it will review this month’s headlines and happenings. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by July 27. (more…)
Wholesale Flour, Feed, Grain and Hay
Recent work on the Duluth Plumbing Supply building at 322 W. Michigan St. — now SPS Companies — has made more visible the words painted on the back side more than a century ago. The bottom line reads “Wholesale Flour, Feed, Grain and Hay.” The top line originally read “Wright-Clarkson Mercantile Co.” but appears to have later been painted over with some other words.
The old-timey photo is via Shorpy and is dated “circa 1905.” St. Louis County property tax records list the building as constructed in 1910, but that’s potentially not accurate.
Postcard from Priley Fountain and the Radisson Hotel
This 50-year-old postcard shows what was then the new Radisson Hotel behind the also new-at-the time Priley Fountain at the Duluth Civic Center. The message on the back of the card was written July 14, 1972, and the card is postmarked the next day. (more…)
Anna D. Oleson, first female major-party nominee for U.S. Senate
The photo in this clipping from the Duluth Herald is dated July 10, 1922, and appears in the July 14 issue of the paper. That summer — one hundred years ago — Anna Dickie Oleson of Cloquet was campaigning to represent Minnesota in the United States Senate. (more…)
West Superior Street, Spalding Hotel, Lyceum Theatre
This photo from Detroit Publishing Company is a similar perspective to a shot previously posted on PDD. It shows Downtown Duluth at Superior Street and Fifth Avenue West at the turn of the 20th century, with the Spalding Hotel at right and the Lyceum Theatre at left.
Mystery Photos: Duluth Owl Studio Cowboys and Cowgirls
Yes, more mystery fake cowboys from Duluth. Previous cowboy mystery photos were presented in the post “Mystery Photos: Wide Awake and Green Dragon Studios.” Cowboy nostalgia was apparently all the rage in the early 1900s, even though the Old West wasn’t quite that old at the time, because the photos featured here are from yet a third photography enterprise in Duluth, Owl Studio. (more…)
Postcard from the Rex Hotel
This postcard was mailed 100 years ago today — July 7, 1922. The illustration presents an aggrandized version of the Rex Hotel, which later became the Curtis Hotel, then Milner Hotel, then Seaway Hotel, and then briefly the Esmond Building. It was actually a three-story building, not four like the postcard shows, and the ground floor wasn’t so ridiculously tall as to dwarf any people or automobiles in front of it. (more…)
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. (more…)
The Pink Aerial Lift Bridge Dollhouse Toilet
It’s been nearly 10 years since the pink Aerial Lift Bridge dollhouse toilet was first mentioned on Perfect Duluth Day — back when it was listed for sale on eBay. Since the reference to it was just a brief mention in a comment to the PDD Gift Guide 2012, perhaps it is time the Duluthy commode is revisited and given its own separate post, if for no other purpose than for speculating on its origin. (more…)
Video Archive: Benzene Spill of 1992
Thirty years ago today nearly 30,000 residents of Superior and neighboring areas were evacuated after a Burlington Northern train derailed on a bridge over the Nemadji River, causing a benzene leak from a derailed car.
The video clip above is from KBJR-TV’s News 6 Nightside with anchor Michelle Lee and reports from KBJR’s Heather Filkins and Laura Bergan and KARE-11 reporter Rick Kupchella on the catastrophe that came to be known as “Toxic Tuesday.”
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Circa 1870
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church was built at 209 N. Lake Ave. in 1869. The location is roughly where Harbor Pointe Credit Union’s main branch is today, across the avenue from Old Central High School.
The modern St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 1710 E. Superior St. was completed in 1914 and the original in the photo above was demolished in 1925. More on the history of St. Paul’s can be found at stpaulsfaithformation.org. (more…)
Postcard from the Famous Aerial Lift Bridge in 1972
On a Monday evening 50 years ago, someone named Ruth Ellen sent this postcard to Dee Ann Faerber of Independence, Mo. “The trees are beautiful,” she wrote. “Rain is supposed to stop Tuesday.” (more…)
The Hotel Astoria Debate
WDSE-TV‘s Almanac North examines the conversation circling the former Hotel Astoria in Duluth’s Duluth’s Historic Arts and Theater district. Producer Megan McGarvey sat down with individuals on both sides of the debate.
Duluth’s Ideal Market
This photo, credited to Clarence Sager, is dated June 18, 1972 — 50 years ago today. The Ideal Market was located at 102 W. First St., the present-day location of Lifehouse.
The store opened in 1921 and closed in 1999. The Duluth News Tribune Attic has photos and stories from its last days.
Postcard from Duluth & Northeastern Railroad Number #28
This undated postcard shows the Duluth and Northeastern Railroad #28 Steam Locomotive chugging along in Cloquet. The photo is by Walter R. Evans and the card was published by Mary Jayne’s Railroad Specialties. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Step up to the plate for this baseball-themed PDD quiz! For more on Duluth baseball history, check out the Zenith City website and the Minnesota Digital Library.
The next PDD quiz will review the headlines from June 2022; it will be published on June 26. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by June 22. (more…)
Postcard from the Duluth Depot
The message on the back of this Union Depot postcard is dated June 8, 1912 — 110 years ago today. The names are tricky to read, but the sender signs off from Detroit, Mich. and the recipient was in Beaver Dam, Wis. (more…)
View in the City of Duluth Circa 1872
This image from a stereograph circa 1872 shows a view of Superior Street in Downtown Duluth looking eastward from roughly First Avenue West. The odd-shaped building in the upper right corner of the image is the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad Grain Elevator A, which was on the shore of Lake Superior at about Fourth Avenue East. (more…)
Video Archive: The First Half-century of Goldfines in Business
This 50-year-old film is a sort of unproduced mini-documentary about Duluth’s Goldfine family, with particular emphasis on their roles as civic leaders. The family’s entrepreneurial story in Duluth goes back to 1922, so it can be viewed today as marking a full century of Goldfine family enterprises in the city. (more…)
Minnesota Historia: The Chief Buffalo Memorial Project
Artist Moira Villiard presents a tour of the Chief Buffalo mural and the origin story of Downtown Duluth.
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.