History
When Snoopy asked, “How about Duluth?”
This Peanuts comic referencing Duluth originally ran on July 29, 1975 — 50 years ago today.
It’s one of at least two times Snoopy referenced Duluth. The second was in a 1976 strip.
Sir Duluth Historical Timeline
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Luht, was an influential French explorer whose name anglicizes to Sir Duluth. He signed his letters “Dulhut,” participating in his own casual anglicization despite the constant conflict his nation had with England. I call him Duluth, synonymous with our present-day, American city, whose name he inspired.
1639: Duluth is born in Saint-Germain-Laval, France.
1650: Duluth is 11 when the first modern philosopher René Descartes dies age 53 in Stockholm, Sweden. A letter from the young Duluth lies on the bedside table, offering a common-sense critique of Descartes’ notion that animals are automatons who may be vivisected. “I guess you’ve never owned a pet,” the boy’s careful handwriting says. The letter continues, “‘I think therefore I am’ is meaningless since grounds for doubting existence do not exist. You torture language like you torture dogs.” It has been suggested that Descartes was so distressed to have his life’s work effortlessly eviscerated by a child that he quickly succumbed to pneumonia and died.
Postcard from the Hotel Duluth in 1955
This postcard, published by the Zenith Interstate News Company, was mailed on July 26, 1955 — 70 years ago today. It shows the Hotel Duluth, 231 E. Superior St., which has been known as Greysolon Plaza since 1980. (more…)
Alfred Merritt on the beauty of the Head of the Lakes
We passed through the old Superior entry into Superior bay about 2 p.m. on Oct. 28, 1856. I wish that you could have seen how beautiful the Head of the Lakes looked at that time. It was practically in a state of nature. The Indians were there, with their wigwams scattered up and down Minnesota and Wisconsin points, with the smoke curling from the top of the wigwams, and their canoes skimming along the waters of the bay or hauled upon the shore. Fish and game were in abundance. Tall pines and hardwood trees were growing on the hillsides and down to the water’s edge, and with the leaves of the hardwood trees turned as they were in the fall, what a beautiful sight it was. I have many times wished that I had a picture as it looked then, or a gift of language to describe the beauty of the Head of the Lakes as I saw it as a boy of 9 years old.
— Alfred Merritt
On July 24, 1925 — one hundred years ago today — the Duluth Herald published the reminiscences of Duluth pioneer Alfred Merritt. The text was excerpted from Merritt’s autobiography, which had been penned 10 years prior. (more…)
Duluth Dukes 1955 Program Cover
Duluth Dukes’ pitchers gave up five home runs in a 12-8 loss to the St. Cloud Rox on July 22, 1955 — 70 years ago today. The program above has that particular date penned on its cover, along with the word “vacation.” (more…)
The Way it Was in West Duluth
Alan Terway (left), bartender at Mr. D’s Spirit Valley Bar and Lounge, 5622 Grand Ave., talks with retired bartender Johnny Matheson of Superior. Matheson tended bar there in the 1940s and ’50s, when it was called Teve’s West Duluth Bar and Grill. (Duluth News Tribune & Herald photo by Charles Curtis, 1985)
And now, a look back at a look back. Forty years ago today — July 18, 1985 — the Duluth News-Tribune & Herald published a special Community Herald section with several stories about West Duluth. The cover story delved into neighborhood bar nostalgia. (more…)
Postcard from the Boulevard Around Duluth
This postcard of Skyline Parkway, from well before it was called Skyline Parkway, is dated July 12, 1905 — 120 years ago today. It is not clear what part of Skyline is featured in the image. (more…)
Lake Superior International Highway opened in 1925
Call this historical tidbit “Highway 61 Revisited.” On July 10, 1925 — one hundred years ago today — a celebration was held in Two Harbors to mark the completion of what was then called the Lake Superior International Highway, a section of Minnesota Trunk Highway 1. (more…)
Video Archive: Iron Ore from the Mesabi Mines circa the 1920s
This silent documentary film depicts the mining, shipping and processing of iron ore from the Mesabi Range. Although the title confidently states 1920, other sources estimate 1926 as year the footage was shot.
Scenes from Duluth begin at the ore docks at the 1:55 mark and conclude at the shipping canal at the 3-minute mark. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Woman at Arcade Studio
This postcard photo is likely from around 1920. The only solid clue is on the back, where the photo is attributed to Arcade studio, 110 W. Superior St., Duluth. The studio had previously been known as the Penny Arcade. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #6: Superior Street in Six Acts
Superior Street around 1873. (Photo from the Northeast Minnesota Historical Collection)
The downtown section of Superior Street has a more complete photographic record than any other part of the city, revealing how dramatically Duluth’s main street has changed over time. This Duluth Deep Dive traces the 170-year history of downtown Superior Street by dividing its history into six periods and illustrating each period with a photo. (more…)
Postcard from Superior Street Looking East
This undated postcard, published by Zenith Interstate News Company, shows Superior Street in Downtown Duluth looking northeast from between Fourth and Fifth avenues west. (more…)
Cold War Secrets of Northern Minnesota
This 2024 PBS North documentary, now available on YouTube, digs into the Cold War and northern Minnesota’s role in the global conflict. It features Cold War heroes like Ray Klosowski, Jim Chapman and Ronald Hein, and visits military sites in Duluth, French River and Finland.
Alhambra changed name to State Theater in 1925
West Duluth’s Alhambra Theater reopened under a new name, The State Theater, on June 27, 1925. The name change came after a renovation of the space, which had originally opened on Sept. 15, 1913.
The State Theater closed circa 1928. The building housed a variety of businesses until it reopened as the Alhambra on May 16, 2025 — one month ahead of the centennial of its name change. (more…)
Postcards from North Shore Drive / State Highway No. 1
Ice Racing Getaway Driver
1983 St. Louis County jailhouse interview with “Turbo” Ted Van Brunt
Interviewer: Tell me about your escape from Duluth.
Turbo Ted: Escaping Duluth is a coin flip. Half my friends tried and couldn’t reach the velocity, came back after two or three years of getting kicked around out there. I tried a couple times.
What you’re really asking about started a couple springs ago, when it rained then the temperature plunged. The city woke up with a coating of clear ice on every surface. Branches falling in the road. Whole city shut down, nothing could move.
Except my black, street stock, ice racing stud car, a 1976 Chevette with a roll cage and 500 spikes on each tire — sheet metal screws we screwed in ourselves. Fender all chewed up. Commonly called the worst car of all time but it did everything we asked. And Johnny said it was go time. He was the brains, had it all worked, how to disarm the system at the Superior Street jewelers there. He got that with a bribe. It was only a question of when, and this was our crisis of opportunity. “The cops won’t stand a chance,” he said, and they didn’t. They even had chains on but they still didn’t know how to drive. Anyway so Johnny robbed it, but he didn’t get all the alarms. And I was the getaway driver but I still get half. Which wasn’t much — a couple display cases worth of diamond jewelry. Pulled him behind the car on a tether as we blew down Superior through deserted intersections, cross-training for frozen lake ice races at the same time we’re robbing a jewelry store. Just on his feet — no skis, just boots. And of course the cop shop is right there. But their interceptors fell behind. It was beautiful. (more…)
Duluth to Liverpool in One Bottom
On June 19, 1920 — 105 years ago today — Scientific American published an article by Robert G. Skerrett editorializing in favor of the “Great Lakes being opened to the sea so that ocean-going craft can steam from Duluth to the Atlantic and thence along our neighboring seaboard or afar to the markets of Europe.” (more…)
Minnesota Historia: Top 10 Voyageur Statues
At long last, a countdown of the best voyageur statues in northern Minnesota, with tidbits on why the state is so fascinated by these colorful figures who worked as the long-haul truckers of the fur trade.
Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.
What Does William S. Burroughs Owe Djuna Barnes?
A lot of William S. Burroughs kind of sounds like Djuna Barnes. The prime example: Barnes created the character Doctor Matthew O’Connor in her 1936 novel Nightwood, and Dr. O’Connor could easily be confused with the 1938 Burroughs character, Dr. Benway (no first name). Each fictional physician is a comically amoral addict abortionist. I think it’s likely Burroughs created Dr. Benway within a year of reading Nightwood. Burroughs owes Barnes a debt of inspiration, and not just in the creation of Benway — many of his other characters could also be walk-ons in Nightwood, fitting in well among Barnes’ cast of liars, pretenders, and cheats. So it’s safe to say Barnes influenced the characters Burroughs created. I will also show her influence on his voice, style, and themes.
Since the 1980s, a Burroughs blurb appears on the back of every Nightwood edition, saying in its entirety, “I read Nightwood back in the 1930s and was very taken with it. I consider it one of the great books of the twentieth century.” That’s all he ever said about it; it says it all. It is commonly acknowledged that he admired her work, but I think Barnes had a larger influence. I think Burroughs took what he learned from Nightwood and then, in 1959, he wrote the actual number-one greatest book of the twentieth century, Naked Lunch. Barnes’ influence is found there, and throughout Burroughs’ work. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #5: The Life and Times of William Sheldon Storer, Early Duluth Dentist
Dr. Storer came to Duluth from New York in 1893, where he set up practice as a local dentist. This post uses the Duluth Herald archives to recount notable events from his life, including his legal battle with Dr. Laird’s Travelling Medicine Show, his second marriage to a locally renowned German dietitian, and his role in what the original Duluth Rip-saw referred to as the “worst war in the glorious history of Lester Park.” (more…)
To Tell the Truth: Mayor Johnson and Mr. Magoo
Duluth Mayor George D. Johnson appeared on the CBS-TV show To Tell the Truth in an episode that aired May 31, 1965 — 60 years ago today. Mayor Johnson was the second of three characters/contestants introduced on the show. The concept of To Tell the Truth is that each character is accompanied by two imposters, and the three of them answer questions from a panel of celebrities who then try to guess which of the three is the authentic person. (more…)
Postcard from the Moonlight Over Lake Superior
This postcard, unmailed and undated, shows Downtown Duluth at night, circa perhaps the 1930s.
Hotel Duluth / Greysolon Plaza Centennial
The Hotel Duluth opened 100 years ago this month. Business operations began on May 8, 1925, and a formal grand opening was held May 22-23. (more…)
Postcards from the Androy Hotel
Superior’s Androy Hotel opened 100 years ago today — May 15, 1925. It was advertised as the largest and only fireproof hotel in Superior. (more…)
View of Downtown Duluth from Observation Hill in 1965
This photo is dated 1965; photographer unknown.