History
Plant of Zenith Furnace Company at West Duluth
Zenith Furnace Company was organized in 1902 and located on St. Louis Bay at 59th Avenue West. The company manufactured pig iron and byproducts of coal gas, ammonia and coal tar. In 1931 the company was acquired by Interlake Iron Corporation and was a source of steel during World War II for use in government defense equipment. It closed in 1962. (more…)
Bud Grant and the Superior Central Basketball Team
Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bud Grant grew up in Superior and played football, basketball and baseball at Superior Central High School. This photo recently showed up Reddit, posted by user “drunkinwisconsin.”
“A bartender’s dad in my hometown of Superior, WI went to school with Bud Grant,” the post reads. “Here is his senior basketball picture, #13.”
Union Made in the District of Duluth
Some time around the year 1980, my parents acquired two giant four-drawer cabinets. Several decades went by before it was time to clean out the house and get rid of them. When one of them sold last month I pulled out a drawer and for the first time noticed the cabinets appear to have been built in Duluth. “United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, organized 1881, registered June 30, 1903,” reads the text on the ink stamp. “Union Made” in the “District of Duluth.”
I’m curious if anyone has seen anything like this or has any back story on who might have built them and when.
Official Map of the City of Duluth, 1889
From the days when Enger Park was Zenith Park, and Chester Park was Glenwood Park (or is it Lenwood?).
Mystery Photo #35: Frank Lundgren and Joe Marceau
This mystery photo was sent by Ryan Sanders, a distant relative of the man at left in the photo above, Frank Lundgren. (Yours truly, Paul Lundgren, is no relation.) Standing next to Frank Lundgren is his brother-in-law Joe Marceau. The photo was shot somewhere in Duluth around 1918. The mystery we are looking to solve is where specifically the photo was shot. (more…)
Bob and Joan
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
Bob mentions a couple of northland towns at the beginning of their first song.
Six old pictures of Duluth’s Cascade Park
Click any thumbnail to view the full images.
Where (and What) in Duluth?
I have walked by this marker for years and the other day stopped to take a closer look, and a photo. Anyone know what it says and why it is here?
With a half hour spent on search engines I found this explanation.
Still doesn’t explain why the marker was placed there originally.
Duluth Waterfront by Knute Heldner
Impressionist painter Knute Heldner lived in Duluth for a good part of his career. The book Minnesota Prints and Printmakers, 1900-1945 dates his etching of Duluth’s Waterfront as “circa 1925.”
He was born in Sweden; differing accounts online put his birth year as 1875, 1877 and 1886. According to Hiro Fine Art he emigrated to Duluth in 1902 and “began working as a cobbler, miner, and lumberjack.” (Askart.com indicates he was a “lumber camp cook” and also notes he arrived in the United States “first in Boston” and later moved “to the Great Lakes region.”)
(more…)Sunshine Rock
One of the more recognizable hunks of mineral matter in the Duluth area is Sunshine Rock. It’s located in Hermantown on Stebner Road between Morris Thomas and Hermantown roads.
There are two things about this rock I’m curious to know:
1) How long has “Sunshine 1ML” been painted on it? I’m certain that particular graffiti goes back at least 25 years.
2) What does “Sunshine 1ML” refer to? The rock happens to be sitting one mile outside of Duluth city limits, so maybe that has something to do with it, but it sits on the south side of Stebner facing northbound traffic, so it’s only noticed by cars heading out of Duluth. Is the insinuation that the sun only shines one mile outside Duluth?
Postcards from Cascade Park
Duluth’s Cascade Park still exists, but it’s nothing compared to what it used to be. In the late 1800s a sandstone pavilion and bell tower overlooked the city, with Clark House Creek running through it and down toward a pond and lush gardens. The bell tower was destroyed during a storm, and Mesaba Avenue eventually ate up part of the park, pushing the creek completely underground. These old postcards offer a look at what was once Duluth’s most extravagant park. (more…)
Onigamiinsing Dibaajimowinan — Duluth’s Stories Website
A recently launched website is offering an indigenous perspective on the history of Duluth and the surrounding area. Onigamiinsing Dibaajimowinan — Duluth’s Stories Website was created with the mission “to share the deep history and continuing presence of Native people within Duluth.” The site was created by the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and grew out of an ethnographic study completed in 2012 for the Duluth Indigenous Commission. The study involved archaeology and history studied through documents and oral interviews. The study is available online in PDF form.
Aerial Bridge from end of Ship Canal
The message on the back of this postcard, mailed April 3, 1909, might require an interpreter — as often seems to be the case. (more…)
Video Archive: Mayor Bergson says he won’t seek re-election
This clip from KDLH-TV 3 is from 10 years ago — June 14, 2006 — the day Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson announced he would not seek re-election the following year in order to focus on solving the city’s unfunded retiree health-care liability without politics interfering. At the time, the city’s health-care debt was projected to reach $300 million by 2014.
In early 2007, Bergson hinted he might run again after all, then announced two months later that he wouldn’t, only to reverse course three months after that and file to run.
His opponents in the race were Charlie Bell, Meg Bye, Joanne Fay, Greg Gilbert, Todd Gremmels, Sunny Helbacka, Reiner Nelson, Don Ness, Jim Pratt, John Socha and Robert Wagner. Bell and Ness advanced to the General Election, with Ness ultimately replacing Bergson as mayor.
J.M. Gidding & Co. | Gidding’s Millinery Duluth
The post “Duluth, the City of Electric Lights,” led me to wonder what the deal was with the Gidding’s building. A quick search of the internet produced the photo at left, which depicts the Knox Five and Dime fire of June 10, 1910, and shows the Gidding’s building at left. (more…)
Duluth, the City of Electric Lights
Circa 1907.
The Old Riverside Store & Auditorium
The large, weathered building on the corner of Industrial Avenue and Spring Street in Duluth’s Riverside neighborhood is a bit of a curiosity. Does someone live there? Is it basically a storage building? What was it constructed for?
The “One River, Many Stories” community journalism project in April seemed like a good excuse to track down some answers. The owner of the building, Douglas J. McEneany, did not respond to requests for an interview, but searches at the Duluth Public Library for historical data were fruitful. (more…)
Mystery Photo: UMD Majorette June Feick
This mystery photo comes from the folks at UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library. The majorette featured front and center is June Feick, leading her fellow majorettes and the UMD Marching Band during the 1952 Homecoming Parade on Superior Street in Duluth.
The mystery? “June doesn’t appear to have enrolled at UMD for the 1953-54 (school year),” reads the caption on the Kathryn A. Martin Library Facebook page. “We are curious about what happened in her life after she left UMD. Can anyone help us find more information?”
Three guys leaving Duluth 100 years ago
Who are they? W.M. Matheny, A.F. Vance and J.W.A. Abb. When were they leaving Duluth? One hundred years ago — June 2, 1916, at 1:45 p.m. Did they plan to return? Yes. Two days later. It’s all written in pencil on the back of the postcard. (more…)
Clyde Iron Works ad from 1927
From pages 162 and 163 of The Road Builders Catalog Directory, 1927. (more…)
Historic heart of Superior’s East End faces changes
Walter Haugen stands in front of buildings on the 2100 block of East Fifth Street, all planned for demolition this spring.
Walter Haugen stood inside an old corner pharmacy his father operated for close to 70 years on Superior’s East End. A junk pile was pushed near the plate glass front windows. Empty shelving units displayed old merchandise tags. A pungent mercurochrome smell filled the dusty store. (more…)
Thanks, Telly
Clip from an advertising supplement in the May 29, 1984 Duluth News Tribune, referring to the classic “Duluth, who loves ya baby?” TV spot. (more…)
Zenith Quartette circa 1908
The Zenith Quartette was a Dutch vocal group based in Duluth. Members shown in this old flier are Carl Hvaal, first tenor; J. Olsen, second bass; O.A. Gronseth, baritone and O.O. Hovday, second tenor.
The NorShor Experience: A Strip Club Retrospective
The NorShor Theatre first hosted exotic dancers on May 24, 2006, with two simple words on the marquee: “Live Girls.” Later, the words “Adult Club” would appear above the theater’s new business name: the NorShor Experience. (more…)
Video Archive: Charlie’s Club Fire of 2006
On the evening of May 22 and into the morning of May 23, 2006 — Charlie’s Club in West Duluth was destroyed by fire. (more…)