History
R.I.P. Amendola Building
Demolition work on the Amendola Building in Downtown Duluth. (Photo by Mike Creger)
The Amendola Building at 405 E. Superior St. was demolished today to make way for Essentia Health’s Vision Northland project.
Amendola Building, Google Maps, 2018
Dan and Joanne Devine, Fall 1947
It’s Homecoming Weekend at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and in the spirit of that we roll out this relic from 1947, supplied by Kristy Roschke, managing director of the News Co/Lab at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. The photo is of her grandparents, Dan and Joanne Devine, partaking in homecoming festivities at UMD. Joanne was homecoming queen; Dan was captain of the football and basketball teams. (more…)
“Iron Will” movie video with Duluth annotations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rt0CSmUt4E
The adventure drama Iron Will premiered on Jan. 14, 1994. Much of the film was shot in Duluth and areas near Duluth from Jan. 11 to April 1, 1993. The annotations below are a guide to spotting familiar people and locations. (more…)
Postcard from the SS America “Booth Line”
This postcard of the passenger and delivery ship America is from some point between 1902, when the Booth Steamship Line acquired the vessel, and 1928, when it sunk near Isle Royale.
More info about the vessel can be found in two other Perfect Duluth Day posts — “SS America, 1925” and “Remembering America and her life on the water.”
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #23
Here’s another in the series of Duluth Trivia cards, from a board game found at Savers. (more…)
Mystery Photo #100: Early Settler
This photo is labeled “Early Settler Duluth MN.” And that’s all we know. Who is this dude? (more…)
Postcard from Lyceum Theatre and Spalding Hotel
It’s not known who scrawled a date on this postcard, when it was scrawled, or what the date is supposed to represent. But the date is one century ago today — Oct. 5, 1919.
It could represent the date the photo was shot, but that seems unlikely. The date was probably written by someone who bought the postcard and wanted to remember the date of a visit to that spot.
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #22: Bernick’s Edition
The trivia cards featured in this series were purchased at a local thrift store. Accuracy might be off. Note, for example, the spelling of Bernick’s on the header on the card below. Bernick’s, of course, has been the Duluth-area distributor of Pepsi and other beverage products since the 1970s. (more…)
The Day the Brother of John Wilkes Booth Came to the Grand Opera House of Duluth
While John Wilkes Booth remains infamous as the actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, his older brother Edwin was actually the better known of the two prior to Lincoln’s assassination as he was considered one of the greatest Shakespearean performers of the 19th century. Edwin Booth feared that his brother’s crime would destroy his own reputation and career even though he was not only a supporter of Lincoln, but also once saved the life of Lincoln’s son by grabbing him as he fell from a train. Edwin Booth’s open expression of horror at what his brother had done led to continued public support after Lincoln’s assassination and he remained a successful actor until his death. To this day, no actor has performed the role of Hamlet more times than him. (more…)
Duluth Library Wildcats Women’s Hockey Team of 1929
Not much is known about the Duluth Library Wildcats. The photo above is from the Duluth Public Library’s Facebook page, and is from a slide titled “Library Wildcats,” found in the staff section of the library’s slides.
“There isn’t a lot more information than that, but a librarian is on the case and she’ll be looking for more on this story,” the library’s Facebook post noted.
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #21
Another Duluth Trivia card, from a board game found at Savers, below. (more…)
National Geographic’s Duluth of 1949
Roy and Edythe Halvorson of Duluth sit in their living room and look out at skiers. Kodachrome photo from National Geographic, September 1949.
National Geographic magazine published a feature story on Minnesota in its September 1949 issue. The article marked Minnesota’s 100th year in legal existence as a territory of the United States.
Duluth, the Iron Range and Superior National Forest were part of the story, titled “Minnesota Makes Ideas Pay,” which features numerous photos by B. Anthony Stewart and Jack E. Fletcher. (more…)
The History of WDSE/WRPT TV
WDSE-TV celebrates its 55th anniversary this month. This short video gives an overview of the early history of Duluth’s public television station.
Postcard from the Pier in Rough Weather
This postcard of the Duluth Shipping Canal was mailed 110 years ago today — Sept. 19, 1909. The postmark fades out a bit, but other details on the card indicate it was mailed from Orr, Minn. to a resident in Duluth’s Friendly West End. (more…)
Aerial Bridge and Duluth Waterfront view from Observation Hill
This photo from Detroit Publishing Company is copyright 1906. The photographer is not credited.
Mystery Photo #99: Duluthian in uniform
Who is this guy and what’s his deal? His hat bears the number 581. The photo is from Christensen Photography of Duluth, Minn. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #20
Duluth Trivia cards, from a board game from Savers, below. (more…)
Lester River Fish Hatchery circa 1900
The state fish hatchery at 6008 London Road, near the mouth of Lester River in Duluth, was constructed in 1888 and operated until 1946. The photo above, from Detroit Publishing Company, is dated by the Library of Congress as “between 1900 and 1910.” (more…)
Postcards from the Sunrise Motel
The undated postcard above, published by Elton H. Gujer Company of Duluth, depicts the Sunrise Motel in Hermantown. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #19
Here’s another card from the Duluth Trivia game. (more…)
Mystery Photos: Howorth Photography
These two cabinet cards presumably feature two different women, although they look a touch similar. The mystery isn’t just who they are, but also what the deal was with Howorth. (more…)
Selective Focus: Duluth Then & Now
Even if you’re not a history nerd, you’ve got to admire the effort put into finding and recreating these photos and the point of view. The images are from John McLoughlin’s @duluth_then_and_now account on Instagram. (more…)
Seven historic Duluth photos, digitally restored
View of Duluth on the Shore of Lake Superior (1870)
The Minnesota Reflections database contains a large number of high-quality historic photographs of Duluth. Most of these are scans of old prints in excellent condition. Some of the photos in the collection, however, come from torn, faded, scratched, taped or otherwise damaged prints. Many of these damaged prints belong to the collection of photographs taken by Paul B. Gaylord, a photographer from Ohio who moved to Duluth in 1869 and published some of the earliest images of the area. (more…)
Postcards from Duluth’s West End … not West Duluth
A recent post on Perfect Duluth Day featured a “Postcard from the West End of Duluth” that was properly captioned by the postcard company. The postcard shown above, however, shows a similar scene and is captioned as “West Duluth, Minn.” (more…)
Duluth Seaway Portorama
The Duluth Public Library’s Vintage Duluth blog recently published a retrospective on the Duluth Seaway Portarama, an annual summer festival sponsored by the Duluth Jaycees from 1959 to 1969. The modern day relevancy, as the post notes, is that in February the Minnesota House of Representatives repealed sections 333.50, 333.51 and 333.52 of Statute 19-1642, “eliminating crime of unauthorized use of the name and mark “portorama.” (more…)