History
Silent hero of Boundary Waters blowdown subject of new movie
The heroic story of a man who led one of Minnesota’s largest disaster rescue efforts will be told in a motion picture planned for release in 2019. (more…)
Postcard from Duluth Elks Lodge #133 in 1913
This postcard was mailed 105 years ago — June 8, 1913 — when E.J. Turnbo was “enjoying the cool breeze and having one big time.” (more…)
Mysterious Biz White Song about Duluth
We need to unearth some Duluth-based songwriter history. The current reference librarians at the Duluth Public Library are unable to track down the lyrics to a song about Duluth by Biz White, a female librarian during the 1980s and ’90s.
Here’s the conversation:
I was visiting with friends yesterday and one of them said he had been trying to find the lyrics to a song written about Duluth. It was written by Biz White, who used to work at DPL, and he thought it may have been for a Playhouse production. Some of the lyrics he remembered were, “Oh Duluth, your granite hills rise,” and “Oh Duluth, your heartless hills.” I was hoping you had some ideas.
Thanks,
Kim
Help! Does anyone have these lyrics recorded?
Interview with the Richardson Brothers
Ryan Welles interviewed the Richardson brothers today on his “True Stories and Other Damage” podcast. In it, we detail the history of how we got to Duluth 20 years ago, and provide an overview of the creative projects we have been involved with here, from Gonzo Science to Mr. Nice to Lake Superior Aquaman. Other topics include our perennial concerns of psychedelics, UFOs, Dadaism, and several things in between.
Postcard from the Canal Park Marine Museum
The Lake Superior Marine Museum & Maritime Visitor Center doesn’t look much different today than it did in this postcard, probably from the 1970s. (more…)
WDSE-TV Documentary: “Fires of 1918”
The date October 12, 1918 will forever be remembered in this part of the world as a date that didn’t just make history, but erased history. Now, a century later, WDSE-TV presents a new documentary on the greatest catastrophe ever in northern Minnesota.
Postcards from the Flame excursion boat
The undated postcard above, published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography, shows the Flame excursion boat entering the Duluth Shipping Canal. (more…)
ViewMaster: Duluth and North Shore Drive
Here they are: “7 three-dimensional pictures in full-color Kodachrome” featuring “Duluth and North Shore Drive: Minnesota U.S.A.,” copyright 1950 by Sawyer’s Inc. of Portland, Ore.
(more…)Part of Wholesale District, Duluth, Minn.
This old postcard from E.C. Kropp Co. has the year 1917 penciled on the front, which seems roughly accurate.
Duluth’s Only Female Military Casualty of World War I
The latest posting at the Duluth Public Library’s blog Vintage Duluth is “Duluth’s Only Female Military Casualty of World War I” by David Ouse:
Over 115,000 Americans died in World War I. Slightly more than half of those were deaths from disease. Hundreds of Duluth men were casualties of the war, but only one Duluth military woman gave her life — U.S. Army nurse Lydia Whiteside.
Postcard from Miller’s Creek on Boulevard
It was 110 years ago today — June 23, 1908 — when this card was postmarked in Superior and sent to Mrs. M. J. Humphry and her family in Bangor, Wis. (more…)
Selective Focus: Bowwow Powwow
On Wednesday, June 27, there is a book release event for “Bow Wow Pow Wow” illustrated by Duluth artist Jonathan Thunder, written by Brenda Child, professor of American Studies at the University of Minnesota, and translated to Ojibwe by Gordon Jourdain, who teaches at the Misaabekong Ojibwe Language Immersion program for Duluth Public Schools. (more…)
Van Vick Paper Box Company of Duluth
The cribbage board above might not have been made in Duluth, but the box it came in was manufactured at 4902 Oneota St. in West Duluth. (more…)
Duluth Rudolph’s Furniture Store Fire of 1948
Duluth, Duluth, Duluth is on fire. On June 5, 1948, Downtown Duluth was recovering from the “worst commercial district blaze in history.” (more…)
Harbor Square: Downtown Duluth’s shopping center on pillars
An important sidebar to the history of Sears, Roebuck & Company in Duluth is the fascinating tale of the shopping-center-on-pillars that wasn’t. A plan was hatched in the late 1970s for Harbor Square, a roughly $70-million, 574,000-sq.-ft. shopping plaza to be built on stilts over Interstate 35 in Downtown Duluth. Failure to lure Sears as an anchor store was a key element that led to the project’s downfall. (more…)
R.I.P. Sears, Roebuck and Company of Duluth
Sears, Roebuck and Company’s Downtown Duluth department store; 1963 photo from the Kathryn A. Martin Library’s Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections at UMD.
The news broke this week that Sears Holdings will close 15 Kmart stores and 48 Sears stores, including the Sears at Miller Hill Mall and the Kmart at the Spirit Valley Shopping Center in West Duluth.
Sears has been in business in Duluth since 1929, when Sears, Roebuck and Company opened a department store at 129 E. Superior St., the modern-day location of Fond-du-Luth Casino. (more…)
Mystery Photo #67: Duluth?
A few years ago I came across this photo, saved it on my computer with just the title “Duluth,” and then forgot about it. I probably didn’t know much about it then, or maybe wasn’t even certain it was a photo of Duluth.
So … that’s all we’ve got to go on with this Mystery Photo. It looks 1800s-ish. Could be Superior Street. Can anyone verify this as a Duluth photo?
A Delightful Cruise on the Chicago Queen or the Streamliner
An old promotional flyer for excursions on the “world famous Twin Ports Harbor and Lake Superior.” (more…)
Postcard from the McDougall Terminal Building in Duluth
Construction on the McDougall Terminal Warehouse began in 1922, with the first unit completed in 1923. It was located at Ninth Avenue West and Railroad Street, just a bit southwest of where Pier B Resort is today. The building became a Jeno’s frozen foods manufacturing plant in the 1970s and was demolished in 1987.
Postcard from Duluth’s Shipping Canal, 1978
The message on the back of this postcard was written 40 years ago today — May 22, 1978. The card is postmarked the next day. (more…)
Mystery Photo #66: U.S. Mail boat near Duluth, Minnesota
This undated postcard photo depicts a U.S. Mail boat at a nondescript location. The only clue that it might be on the St. Louis River or some other body of water in the vicinity of Duluth is a penciled note on the back of the card. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Duluth Goes Hollywood
In a world where trivia abounds, a quiz emerges to challenge your knowledge of Duluthians in the film industry. Only the buffest of film buffs will prevail; do you have what it takes to arise victorious?
Zenith City Online was an invaluable source of research for this quiz. For more information on these and other Duluth performers, check out their biographies at zenithcity.com.
The next PDD quiz, reviewing headlines from May 2018, will be published on May 27. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by May 24. (more…)
Video Archive: Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage cut wrestling promos for 1988 Duluth show
Thirty years ago — May 10, 1988 — the World Wrestling Federation brought a card to Duluth for the sixth time. A television crew came along to capture matches for four episodes of the syndicated weekly program Superstars of Wrestling. (more…)
Webster House
Yesterday, for some reason, Perry Webster came to mind. Perhaps the milestone of Starfire’s 50th birthday got me thinking of Legends of the Twin Ports. Along with Scott Lunt and Slim Goodbuzz, the “Mount Rushmore” of Duluth would certainly include at least one of the Websters. With that — “The Webster House” — part Airbnb, part youth hostel, part “Lincoln Bedroom,” part homeless shelter, part fraternity/sorority, part halfway house, part fact and part fiction came to mind. (more…)
Whatever happened to Frisky the Bear?
Indianapolis Star — June 7, 1959
Anyone remember old Frisky, promoter of Duluth as the vital player in the new St. Lawrence Seaway? (more…)