History
Postcard from the Old Light House on Minnesota Point
The historic crumbling lighthouse on Minnesota Point has been historic and crumbling for a long time. This postcard was mailed July 12, 1912. The Duluth Preservation Alliance listed the lighthouse as #7 on it’s list of “Duluth’s Ten Most Endangered Properties in 2017.” (more…)
PDD Quiz: Wild Weather
“If you don’t like the weather in Duluth, wait five minutes.”
“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in Duluth.”
Even if we’ve exhausted every other topic of conversation, we always have the weather to fall back on. Weather in the Northland can be extreme, but how familiar are you with those extremes? Test your meteorological mettle with this week’s quiz!
The next PDD Quiz, reviewing March 2018 happenings, will be published on March 25. Email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by March 22. (more…)
Mystery Photo #64: Edge of Unknown Lake
This photo comes to us from Les Locklear, who has that feeling we all get from time to time. You know you recognize something, but you just can’t place it. (more…)
Northwestern Oil Company Filling Station
The Northwestern Oil Company filling station was built in 1921 at 716 E. Superior St. This photo from Jay Sonnenburg’s family collection is likely from the very early days of the gas station’s existence. The building is now home to the Portland Malt Shoppe. (more…)
Rare Duluth Skyline Postcard
A rare Skyline postcard by Chester Klock, an artist who worked a very short spell at the Duluth Herald in 1942 drawing a feature cartoon called “Plumb Local.” The job was cut short when America entered World War II, and Klock moved to Wisconsin to contribute to the war effort by working for Allis-Chalmers. After the war, Klock moved to Denver where he drew cartoons for the Denver Post until 1953. He finished out his career in California.
A Few of Duluth’s Fair Working Girls
This March 1912 Duluth News Tribune clip was found in a search related to Perfect Duluth Day’s “Mystery Photo #63.” You might think it’s interesting the paper had a feature on working women back then, until you read it and discover it’s six paragraphs about a search for Duluth’s “most beautiful working girl,” and asks specifically, “which is the prettiest?” (more…)
Mystery Photo #63: Quite a Hat
Who is this lady and what is her deal? Well, we know this is a postcard photo shot at either the Penny Arcade in Duluth or the Post Card Shop in Minneapolis. We know her hat is awesome, but aren’t really sure if there is a significance to the combination of a big hat, giant bow tie and candlestick telephone. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #8
Below are more questions from a Duluth Trivia Deck I found at Savers. I’m not using all the questions in this deck in my series of posts, by the way. Some are clearly dated., e.g. “How many banks are in Duluth?” The answer will no longer be accurate. Also, some are clearly designed to promote a business.
1. How long is the Blatnik Bridge?
2. Who was John A. Blatnik?
3. The actor Tom Price portrayed a popular role in 1985 in Duluth. What part did he play?
4. How many branch libraries are there in Duluth — at the time this card deck was produced?
5. Due to a power failure, who was stuck in the Holiday Center glass elevator for one-half hour on October 23, 1985?
6. Name the person who has been mayor of Duluth, director of the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District, and in the state legislature?
7. What Duluth mayor came to prominence over a confrontation with a gasoline distribution company?
8. What was the first name of the Duluth Junior League organization? (more…)
Mystery Photos: Posing with Car
Not much is known about these two photos, other than that the car has Minnesota plates that appear to show the year 1925 or 1935. Is this a scene from Duluth? Is it possible to pin this photo on any map? Obviously bonus points for identifying people in the photo.
Don’t be fooled by how the building at right appears to look a little bit like the Chromaline/Ikonics building in West Duluth. It is not.
Some Duluth Jobbers (Curlers) History
This handsome photo of the 1913 curling club off London Road comes from the Duluth Commercial Club annual report from 1918.
Yeah, we didn’t get our paper this morning either. What to read? (I like to pretend the internet doesn’t exist on snow days.) So as we bask in curling gold from South Korea, enjoy a little history of one of Duluth’s most ancient organized sports. (more…)
Then and Now: Grand Avenue at Knowlton Creek
The image above shows Grand Avenue at Knowlton Creek, looking from Duluth’s Norton Park neighborhood toward the Riverside neighborhood. It’s dated Feb. 16, 1918. At the time, Grand Avenue was named Third Street. What does it look like today? (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #7
More from the deck found at Savers …
1. In what year did the U.S. Commerce Dept, designate the Port of Duluth a Foreign Trade Zone?
2. In what year was the $8.5 million Duluth International Airport passenger terminal and industrial park complex completed?
3. In what year was Northland Country Club built?
4. In what year was Wade Stadium dedicated?
5. Who was Sid Peterson?
6. Who were the 1961 Minnesota State High School basketball champions?
7. Who was Bruce Bennett?
8. Who was “Heat Wave” Richard Berler?
9. What was the White City on Park Point? (more…)
Video Archive: The Hart Foundation and Honky Tonk Man cut a special Duluth Valentine’s Day wrestling promo in 1988
Trade in your candy hearts for some “Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart and the Hart Foundation. The World Wrestling Federation was in Duluth 30 years ago today — Feb. 14, 1988 — for its fifth card at the Duluth Arena. (The WWF is now the WWE, and the Duluth Arena is now the DECC Arena. Times change.) (more…)
Some Historical Notes on the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge
This video is part of a DVD Kenneth Newhams of Duluth Shipping News produced in 2005 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Aerial Lift Bridge. It features archival video courtesy of Don Hermanson at Keweenaw Video Productions.
Starfire-sitting
I saw an article in Slate today about the economic imperative for bands to tour and the need for childcare on the road. I was disappointed that Duluth’s own Scott “Starfire” Lunt was not consulted, let alone mentioned. His duty as nanny on Low’s 2003 tour will serve as more good fodder for an “official, unofficial history of Duluth” on PACT-TV. What Mrs. Doubtfire is to in-home child care, rawk-legend Starfire is to tour-bus child care.
Slate: “The 21st-Century Family Band“
Old Photos of Jay Cooke Statue in Duluth
Jay Sonnenburg shares this old photo from his family collection. It shows Duluth’s statue of Jay Cooke across Superior Street from the Kitchi Gammi Club, date unknown. The statue was moved a short distance in the 1980s when I-35 was extended through the area. (more…)
Postcard from Duluth’s Hill Top
Set the Wayback Machine 105 years; this postcard was mailed Feb. 3, 1913. The message on the back was written the day before, and will require a translator. Stay tuned for that. Someone will answer the call to duty in the comments eventually. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #6
More from the Duluth Trivia Deck found at Savers.
1. What famed product was sold by Duluth Tent and Awning?
2. What does a McGiffert loader [on view in the railway museum] load?
3. Who held the first motorized dairy operation in Duluth/the region?
4. Where is Mission Creek located?
5. True or false? A quarry near Mission Creek yielded much of the brownstone used in Duluth buildings.
6. True or false? The first brick structure in Duluth is still standing at E. Superior Street.
7. Where is Munger Terrace?
8. T/F: When the Torrey building was constructed, it was fireproofed by covering its iron and wooden beams with terra cotta or baked clay.
(more…)
Video Archive: Harry Welty’s 1993 Bill Clinton Snow Sculpture
Twenty-five years ago today — Jan. 20, 1993 — William Jefferson Clinton was sworn in as the 42nd President of the United States. That winter, Duluth’s Harry Welty created a snow sculpture of the new president, and KDLH-TV’s Paul Guggenheimer was there to report.
Welty is still creating snow art on his front lawn, as covered in detail in a PDD “Selective Focus” piece last winter.
Postcard from Duluth’s Skyline Parkway
This postcard image of Duluth from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography appears to be circa 1970. The card is not dated and was never mailed. (more…)
Video Archive: Plugging the hole of the thousand-foot shitter
It was ten years ago that KBJR-TV news reporter Julie Pierce made her famous slip-of-the-tongue while referring to the 1,000-foot motor vessel Walter J. McCarthy Jr. The video clip above, viewed more than 200,000 times in the past decade, also shows KBJR misspelling “McCarthy” on its graphic; so it goes. (more…)
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #5
From the Duluth trivia deck scored at Savers. Thanks to those who have corrected the previous entries and discussed them with vigor. I learned a lot.
1. Who was Duluth’s first mayor?
2. What was the name of the first ship to pass through the Duluth Ship Canal?
3. In what year was the Duluth Bethel Society founded?
4. In what year did the Duluth Board of Trade organize? (The link is about the building, not the organization.)
5. Who developed the Lake Vermilion Iron Fields?
6. When the Duluth Street Railway opened in 1881, how much did it cost to ride in one of its mule-drawn cars?
7. What part of Duluth was known as a “Hay Fever Haven“?
8. What did the City of Duluth do when it was found that its Lake Superior water had asbestiform particles which are linked to cancer?
9. What was Soroptimist International?
10. This one feels like it might be suspect: What was the first church in the Village of West Duluth?
11. True or False: Duluth once had a Duluth Toboggan and Snowshoe Association?
(more…)
PDD Quiz: History of the NorShor Theatre
In anticipation of the NorShor Theatre re-opening in February, this month’s PDD Quiz looks back at the colorful history of this Duluth landmark. (more…)