History
J. J. Summers Agency, 1973
I got one for the Duluth History Detectives. Where was the J.J. Summers Agency located?
I just received an art book of the famous photographer Stephen Shore, and it was the following photo.
Caption reads: J.J. Summers Agency, First Street, Duluth, Minnesota, July 11, 1973.
I enjoy the rare opportunity to track down the locations of old famous photographs in the area to rephotograph and want to find this one. A quick cruise through Google Street view show a could of store fronts which still looks similar (Glenwood Signs) that I’ll go inspect, but any first hand accounts of the location, or records of an actual address would be great. Visual identification may be hopeless if it has been tore down or remodeled in the past 37 years.
Plain drunk, drunk and disorderly and even beastly drunk in Duluth
Regular folks getting drunk used to be front page news. Ah, the good ol’ days.
From the first issue of the Duluth Herald, April 9, 1883:
James Clark got drunk yesterday and was run in by Officer Turcotte. He was taxed $8.50 this morning by Justice Martin.
A. Lonquest was drunk and disorderly at Rice’s Point last night and Officer Peloski found considerable difficulty in arresting him. He had an infernal machine called a self cocking revolver on his person besides a dangerous looking knife. He contributed $10 to the city treasury this morning.
P. Peck was a plain drunk who was picked up by Tom McLaughlin yesterday. He paid the customary $8.50 this morning.
Mary McGraw got beastly drunk yesterday and fell into the clutches of the police. This morning she woke up financially embarrassed and the result was she was sentenced to ten days confinement in the county jail.
These are our people; this is our heritage.
Duluth’s Merry Inn Tavern (Net Results)
Among the random things to show up in my e-mail today (thanks Jake and Wendy) is this photo of an old (and awesome) ashtray from the Merry Inn Tavern. The address, 917 W. Michigan St., would have been roughly where Mesaba Avenue meets I-35 today.
The Merry Inn Tavern and Michelizzi’s Italian Food grocery store were part of the Terminal Hotel throughout the 1960s. The whole works was operated by Michael Michelizzi until about 1973, which is probably when the building was torn down.
The name “Terminal Hotel” goes back at least as far as 1930, although city directories in the 1930s and ’40s often refer to the property simply as “furnished rooms.”
Michelizzi’s reign at the Terminal seems to have begun in the early 1930s. In the 1920s there is a listing for two blocks away, 1131 W. Michigan St., for Mike Michelizzi & Co., a store handling “Fancy and Staple groceries cigars tobaccos and fancy Italian imported goods Macamoni and Soft Drinks.” I’m not sure if there’s a fancy, little-known Italian item called “Macamoni” or if that’s supposed to be macaroni.
In the early 1900s, the Cholette Hotel was at 917 W. Michigan St. During Prohibition, it had a “soft drink parlor” at which, obviously, bootlegging took place. For some of the sordid details regarding that, read the comments to this post.
Duluth’s Pine Knot Cabin on Minnesota Point: Its History, its Removal and the Future of the Land
Photo by William Mittendorff
The removal of the Pine Knot Cabin on Minnesota Point raised a lot of questions and caused a good deal of speculation among Duluthians. To clear up some of the facts, Perfect Duluth Day interviewed Steve Wilson, regional Scientific and Natural Area specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Why was the cabin removed and what’s the deal with the DNR’s SNAs? The answers are below. (more…)
PBS’ History Detectives crew shooting at two Duluth locations on Dec. 9
A crew from the PBS series History Detectives will be shooting in Duluth this week, attempting to solve the mystery behind a small watercolor painting that may have become a Tiffany window.
On Thursday, Dec. 9, host Gwendolyn Wright and the crew will be shooting at First Presbyterian Church and Duluth’s Historic Union Depot.
The story will air with History Detectives ninth season during the summer of 2011.
Duluth Does Dylan 10 years later
The album Duluth Does Dylan was first played for the public on Nov. 30, 2000, during the Starfire Lounge at Fitger’s Brewhouse. There was a big bus trip to St. Paul for a release party at the Turf Club, but no one remembers the details of that, I’m sure. The Ripsaw published the recording session photos below, shot by Linda Cadotte.
Men of Raleigh Street and Their Fish
Perhaps in another century people will pass around photos of you and try to piece together the details.
Who were these West Duluth guys? Did they all go fishing, or just the ones with their hats raised? Did they catch these 40+ fish on the St. Louis River or somewhere else? Did they have a boat?
Maybe none of that matters. What we know is that on one day in 1916 there was a mighty jubilant feast on Raleigh Street.
Socrates runs aground on Park Point in Duluth
Tugs try to free the freighter Socrates from the sandy shallows of Park Point on Nov. 22, 1985. The ship had run aground several days earlier during a strong storm. Crowds of onlookers flocked to Park Point to watch in the days after the ship got stuck. (Photo by Charles Curtis / News-Tribune)
Select Images from Denfeld’s 1938 Oracle
Fly high, Duluth! Senior Ralph Eisenach takes a running broad jump.
(more…)
Video Archive: Duluth’s Lake Place Park — “the park in the sky” — under construction
From KBJR-TV, Oct. 25, 1990.
[Note: This video was removed by the YouTube user.]
You’ll notice the headlines from 20 years ago seem to mirror those of today. Before Barbara Reyelts’ piece on Lake Place Park, which starts 2 minutes into the video, you’ll see the president refusing to raise taxes, gas prices rising and ramp closures on local freeways.
Among the commercials at the end of the video is one for the late Senator Paul Wellstone, who back then was campaigning to replace Rudy Boschwitz.
Trespassing at UMD’s Old Main in 1992
One summer night in 1992, when I was 19 years old, I came home from doing something forgettable and found three of my friends waiting for me. They said I should grab a flashlight and come with them on an adventure. (more…)
Video Archive: Dennis Anderson knocks down a few Grain Belts and shows off the film equipment
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ZXpJEO18g&feature=related
This video appears to be from the early 1970s. Watch the high-pressure air send Denny’s hairpiece flying! (Plus bonus footage: A Jack McKenna forecast.)
Minnesota Deer Hunting Opener 1907
Good luck this weekend, nimrods!
Ghosts of Halloween Past
A pair of photos from the Boogieman Project — the NorShor Theatre’s Halloween party on Oct. 28, 2000. (more…)
Independence of Duluth News Tribune Political Endorsements
The recent DNT endorsement of Chip Cravaack, a conservative Republican who enjoys a lot of Tea Party support, made me want to tap the PDD community for information and discussion of the DNT endorsements over the years. The Fargo-based, private company Forum Communications became owner of the DNT in 2006. Since then, the DNT and the many other Forum newspapers overwhelmingly tend to endorse conservatives and Republicans as a bloc.
(more…)
Duluth in the 1970s
There’s now a Facebook page for 1970s-era Duluth nostalgia.
Monahan Brothers Make it to D.C.!!
Remember back in May!?!?! Well, 3,100 miles later, the old guys made it! This photo was taken at the Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday, where organizers from movetoamend.org unfurled a ginormous (20×100 ft.) preamble to the Constitution for people to sign. It was quite a display, both visually and emotionally (I’m pretty proud of my pops). The crowd was receptive and security was … cooperative. Pics from the action made it into USA Today and the Washington Post. Anyway, what a day! If this is inspiring at all, consider signing the motion at movetoamend.org. If you’re curious, here are the rest of the pics from my epic political activism adventure:
Duluth’s “Union Block” and its Tenants
The two buildings on the corner of First Avenue West and Fourth Street are known as the “Union Block,” though that name probably hasn’t been used much in the past 50 years.
(more…)
Last Place of Commerce
I miss the days when the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce headquarters was next to the Last Place on Earth. That was synergy at its finest.
The photo above is from roughly 1993 1996. Last Place hadn’t quite finished moving in. I think the two were neighbors for at least 10 years before the chamber hightailed it to First Street.
William Canning — traveling evangelist known in Duluth for his strange gyrations in Canal Park
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIG1t0ETbog
Apparently, according to the video description on YouTube, some guy named Jon was vacationing in Duluth in the 1990s and came across a fellow “making some very strange moves” that were “too good to pass up,” so he videotaped it. Earlier this summer, he uploaded it to YouTube.
As it turns out, I have the scoop on who the “man dancing in Canal Park” is.
(more…)
The Seaway Market in Norton Park
Someone — I think her name was Gloria — posted this picture of the Seaway Market on Facebook a few months back and asked if anyone remembered the place. I saved the image, but can’t find the Facebook post anymore.
Here’s the deal with the Seaway Market:
(more…)
Historic Lift Bridge featured on Shorpy
Here is a really neat photo looking back into the history of Duluth. The first version of our beloved Lift Bridge didn’t really lift at all. It initially was built in 1905 as a very rare transporter bridge. It wasn’t until 1930 that it was converted into the form we know today.
Inside Denfeld’s Renovation
This is the view looking up from inside the new main entrance to Denfeld High School. The main floor of the new addition connects to the old building through the auditorium lobby. The main floor of the addition will include a new cafeteria and common area, administrative offices and media center.
(more…)
The Rentola
Here are two historic photos of the Rentola, a Finnish boarding house at 4 N. 59th Ave. W., in West Duluth. The top photo is from Karl Hagglund, whose grandmother was a maid at the Rentola. The next photo is from 1961, courtesy of the Northeast Minnesota Historical Center. So the story goes, there was an old steam house nearby where Rentola residents took saunas. (more…)