History
Postcard from Superior Street in 1871
What did Superior Street look like 150 years ago? Well, a little something like what’s shown in the postcard image above. (more…)
The Life and Times of Ignatius Donnelly
Silver Brook Township’s Mike Scholtz has a new documentary, produced for the southwestern Minnesota Pioneer PBS series Postcards.
The subject is Ignatius Donnelly, an American congressman, populist writer and amateur scientist known for his writings about the lost continent of Atlantis. The story begins near the town of Donnelly, roughly 200 miles southwest of Duluth, and takes viewers on a wild ride exploring the amazing legacy of the man.
Duluth actor Jody Kujawa plays the role of Donnolly in reenactment scenes.
St. Louis County Jail designs approved in 1921 … sort of
One hundred years ago today — May 11, 1921 — the Duluth Herald published a story about plans for a new St. Louis County Jail. The building that would eventually be constructed looks somewhat similar to the drawing here, but there were numerous changes to the plan. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Three Men in Caps
Anyone who wants to delve into the difference between a flat cap and a newsboy cap and a bakerboy cap and on and on can feel free to do so, but the main mysteries we seek to solve are who these three gentlemen might be and whether they were Duluthians. (more…)
City Bottling Company?
Found this bottle while cleaning out the old dump by our house. It’s an annual event where I commune with our forbears — white folks scratching out a living decades ago on stolen land and tossing all their garbage into the wetland.* (more…)
Postcard from the Duluth Shipping Canal and Aerial Lift Bridge
This undated postcard, published by Harry Wolf and P. T. Olson of Detroit, Mich., features a photo taken by Wolf of the Duluth shipping canal and Aerial Lift Bridge. (more…)
Mayor Snively welcomes Blackfeet chiefs to Duluth in 1921
On May 4, 1921 — one hundred years ago today — newly elected Duluth Mayor Samuel Snively welcomed to the city five chiefs from the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana. (more…)
Video Archive: Movie “White Palace” too racy for Duluth
This clip from The Tonight Show features guest host Jay Leno showing the evolution of an ad in the Duluth News Tribune for the 1990 film White Palace at Superior’s Mariner 4 Theatres. Watch as Susan Sarandon’s dress expands up her torso. (more…)
West Duluth kids rarely strayed from neighborhood in 1920s
An article in the Duluth Herald of April 28, 1921 — one hundred years ago today — calls attention to how western Duluth kids seldom ventured to the center of town, much less to the eastern side. (more…)
Postcard from an Outbound Freighter
This undated postcard from Zenith Interstate News Company shows a freighter exiting the Duluth shipping canal into Lake Superior. (more…)
Video Archive: Duluth Missabe and Iron Range Railway, 1961
This 1960s-era film by Bruce Ward shows Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railway 2-8-8-4 Yellowstone locomotives on excursions around and out of Duluth.
Video Archive: Norway’s royal couple given stirring welcome
Although Crown Prince Olav and Princess Martha of Norway did visit Duluth in 1939 for the dedication of Enger Tower, the footage in this silent film seems to all have been shot in Los Angeles a month earlier. Nevertheless, images of Duluth News Tribune stories are splashed across the screen at the start of the film. (more…)
Curley the Trapper brings body of scurvy victim through Duluth
One hundred years ago today a Duluth native completed his mission to recover the body of a former Duluth man who died of scurvy deep in the woods of Manitoba. (more…)
Douglas County Historical Society Museum circa 1949
The postcards shown here were sold at the Douglas County Historical Museum circa 1949. Above is the pioneer kitchen display at the museum. (more…)
Last Rites of John Defoe
One hundred years ago today the Duluth Herald reported on military honors given to John Defoe, who the paper credits as “the first American Indian who fell in the World war to be returned to his native land for burial.” (more…)
PDD Quiz: Duluth Parks II
Test your knowledge of Duluth’s western parks in this week’s quiz! As with the previous quiz on Duluth parks, Tony Dierckins’ and Nancy S. Nelson’s Duluth’s Historical Parks: Their First 160 Years was an indispensible resource. Historical images from the Kathryn A. Martin Library’s Northeast Minnesota Historical Collection were accessed through the Minnesota Digital Library, another excellent resource for local history buffs.
The next PDD quiz, reviewing this month’s headlines, will be published on April 25. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by April 21. (more…)
Postcard from the Passenger Steamer South American
This undated postcard, published by Zenith Interstate News Company, shows the Steamer South American on Lake Superior. It was built for the Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company and launched as an overnight passenger ship on Feb. 21, 1914. A fire in 1924 required the upper works of the vessel to be rebuilt, resulting in the addition of a second smokestack, which is shown on the postcard. (more…)
Duluth’s longest mayoral term started in 1921
On April 5, 1921 — one hundred years ago today — Samuel Frisby Snively was elected mayor of Duluth. He held the office for four terms spanning 16 years. Duluth has had two three-term mayors who served for 12 years, John Fedo and Gary Doty. (more…)
Amtrak wants to return passenger service to Duluth with funding from Biden’s infrastructure proposal
Amtrak’s North Star parked at the Duluth Depot, July 19, 1981. (Photographer unknown)
It’s been 36 years since Amtrak ended its 10-year run of passenger service from the Twin Cities to Duluth. This past week the company, which provides medium and long-distance service in the contiguous United States and nine Canadian cities, announced a vision for up to 30 new routes, including a return to Duluth … if Congress passes President Joe Biden’s $2-trillion infrastructure proposal. (more…)
Mystery Photos: Mr. and Mrs. Peter Anderson
Someone was kind enough to write the names of these love birds on their photos and keep them together. But who are Mr. and Mrs. Peter Anderson? (more…)
Postcard from Miller’s Cafeteria
Miller’s Cafeteria in Duluth’s Medical Arts Building, 320 W. Superior St., has a convoluted origin story that was explored in the comments to a Perfect Duluth Day Mystery Photo in 2014 and in the Duluth News Tribune “Relics” column “An old place mat holds memories of downtown cafe,” in 2019. From those works we learned the cafe became the Captain’s Table in 1959 and closed in 1972. (more…)
Commercial Cafe opens under new management in 1921
This advertisement in the March 29, 1921 Duluth Herald promotes the reopening of the Commercial Cafe at 10 N. 20th Ave. W. in what is now Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The location is probably where DLH Clothing is operating a retail store today, although all businesses in that building use the address 12 N. 20th Ave. W.
Postcards from the Duluth Civic Center
Duluth’s Civic Center includes the St. Louis County Courthouse (1909), Duluth City Hall (1928), Gerald W. Heaney Federal Building (1930), St. Louis County Jail (1923) and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (1919). (more…)
Duluth Soo Line Depot
Duluth’s Soo Line passenger depot opened at 602 W. Superior St. in 1910. It was designed by C. E. Bell, Tyrie and Chapman of Minneapolis in the Romanesque style. The depot closed in the 1960s and was torn down in 1972. (more…)
Postcard from Little Two Harbors
This undated postcard from Duluth Photo Engraving Company shows Ellingson Island at Little Two Harbors, the bay best known for its views of Split Rock Lighthouse.