History
Perfect Duluth Day in Nashville
I really enjoy rhetoric guy’s posts with details about a typical day in Duluth from his perspective. After spending a day in Nashville leading up to an evening of Duluth musicians performing on an iconic American stage, I couldn’t help thinking about sharing this profound experience in a similar way.
Palace Theater tour from 2002
The Palace Theater in Superior was torn down in 2006, but this video of a tour in 2002 has emerged on YouTube. (more…)
Cool Duluth Minnesota: Summer City of the Continent
This little item was recently unearthed by Michael J. Martens of Portland, Ore., and sent PDD’s way via Jess Koski. (more…)
History Mystery: Point of Rocks
Across from the M&H gas station at Point of Rocks Park, there is a gap in the rocks, a ravine, for which in the past appeared to have many buildings around it. Was this the location of Duluth’s Little Italy? It seems like it may have been. The big question, however, is what is with the ravine there? It seems to be man made, and almost as if they were attempting to continue Superior Street, as it lines up near perfectly. The buildings slowly disappear over the decades, until they all seem to be gone by 1989. Was this ravine an attempt to continue Superior Street, or was there some other reason for it? It’s been fascinating me for some time. (I’ve included links to historical aerial photos of the area). (more…)
Bobby Aro: King of the Great Northwoods
WDSE-TV presents this one-hour documentary on Bobby Aro, the famed 1950-90s Northern Minnesota disc jockey, singer/songwriter and entertainer who put St. Louis County’s Highway 7 on the map. Aro’s Finn-glish novelty songs are well known throughout the Finish communities of the United States and Canada.
Duluth-area Matchbook Collection
Perfect Duluth Day presents the Duluth Matchbook Collection — a gallery of small cardboard folders with a striking surface on one side, featuring images promoting select enterprises of the Arrowhead region. (more…)
PDD Video Lab: 1972 Birnamwood Homecoming Parade footage
Birnamwood, Wis. is in the vicinity of Wausau, a roughly four-hour drive from Duluth, but this 43-year-old parade footage is lovely enough to share anyway. Kudos to Duluth’s Kip Praslowicz for digitizing his grandfather Emil’s fine film work. Below are some possible soundtracks to go with the film.
Leaving Duluth: Feel free to write your own caption
“Leaving Duluth” postcard image from Arcade studio, roughly a century ago.
Duluth-Superior Transit Company Token
I recently acquired a Duluth-Superior Transit Company token from a friend and thought I’d post it in case anyone can pinpoint the year of its creation or share any interesting details. (more…)
Balloon View of Duluth/Superior Harbor
This postcard, captioned “Balloon View Harbor, River and Natural Breakwater; Duluth to Left, Superior to Right” raises a few questions. Perhaps the most important one is, how did that tree on the left edge get so tall? (more…)
The Zamboni Explosion and Peterson Arena Fire of 2004
Peterson Arena on Grand Avenue in West Duluth was gutted by fire on Dec. 19, 2004. The image of the wreckage at left is a Bob King photo for the Duluth News Tribune, boosted from USA Today‘s story about the unfortunate and scary, yet still undeniably comical, Zamboni explosion. The fire marked the end of Peterson Arena, which served as the only indoor ice rink in western Duluth from 1971 to 2004. It was replaced by the Duluth Heritage Sports Center at Clyde Park, which opened in 2008.
35,000 miles of scenic highway routes
Slate ran an article today from “The Vault,” its associated history blog. Titled “A beautiful Depression-era route map makes transcontinental bus travel look glamorous,” it details the history of Pacific Greyhound Lines, the company that eventually became Greyhound. The map above is from 1935.
I was struck by the amount of routes covering Minnesota — all the way up to Thunder Bay makes sense, but no state other than Ohio seems to have the saturation that Minnesota does. What gives? (more…)
Select Images from the 1934 Denfeld Oracle
Back in the day, Denfeld art students competed in the Proctor and Gamble contest, the Scholastic Award or the House Beautiful Cover Design contest. Miss Genevieve Bancroft was the art instructor, with the assistance of Miss Nellie Smith. (more…)
57th Avenue Roadway / Flood Reconstruction Video
The flood of 2012 left its mark on Keene Creek, Highland Avenue and 57th Avenue West in West Duluth. This relatively boring video was shot a few days before the roads were closed and one day after completion of the summer-long, 11-million-dollar reconstruction project. Let’s take a rip from Grand Avenue to Skyline for some before/after video.
1984-85 UMD Bulldog Basketball Card Set
The 2014-’15 UMD Bulldog basketball team plays its first home game tonight against UW-Superior. In recognition of that, we roll out this nostalgia from 30 years ago. (more…)
Duluth Rocks: Famous boulders and outcroppings across the city
Perhaps Duluth’s most famous rock is Elephant Rock in Lincoln Park. It looks a bit like a giant, half-buried elephant, hence the name. (more…)
The Duke of Duluth, Redux
“Finds ‘Duke’ to be Insane,” Duluth Weekly Herald, 15 January 1908
In the interest of furthering the ongoing fascination with the “Duke of Duluth” on PDD [1][2] and in the broader Duluth community, I submit this 15 January 1908 clipping from the Duluth Weekly Herald. Given the description of the unfortunate Arthur J. Baird–“claimed to have acquired his nickname by reason of his hirsute adornment, his education and general demeanor“–it seems possible that he might in fact be the same man in the photograph Nemadji posted in 2010.
It would appear that some members of the local community, inspired by Nat M. Wills’ 1905 musical “The Duke of Duluth,” bestowed the mocking title on Baird, but that’s the limit of what I’ve (accidentally) found. Stay tuned for more fascinating updates if/when they appear.
Mystery Photo #21: What was Cook’s Place?
For sale on a couple websites are tokens for Cook’s Place, 527 W. Michigan St., Duluth. What was Cook’s Place? The address puts it on the western end of where the Duluth Public Library stands today.
A listing on tokencatalog.com offers what appears to be a list of various names the business may have gone by over the years: “Moses S. Cook Saloon 1898-1912; Mayer J. Cook Saloon 1912-1916, Beverages & Restaurant 1920; Homer L. Cook Restaurant 1937-1942; J. Earl Cook Confectionery 1947-1958.”
That seems to raise some questions, though, like: How did so many different Cooks carry out 60 or more years of business in one spot? When was it called Cook’s Place? Is Mayer a first name? There was no “mayor” of Duluth named J. Cook, although Jay Cooke played a big part in Duluth’s history in the late 1800s.
What’s the deal with Cook’s Place?