Mystery Photo #101: Forest Service Office at Grand Marais
This photo seems to be of a forest service office on the southern part of Cook County Road 12, aka the Gunflint Trail, in or near Grand Marais. Or does it show a private residence and the arrow on the forest service sign indicates the office is up the road? Who is the gal posing the photo? What year is was this picture taken? Mysteries abound.
The Richardson Brothers’ Podcast: New Episodes
New episodes: “The Blue Man.” Duluth’s most melancholy superhero weaponizes the color blue. But what strange force can undo … The Blue Man? Also: “The Ballad of the Crammenfjorder.” Captain Buck Wild saves the city. And: “Attack of the Food Nazis.” Agent Coma Joe gets tortured with natural foods.
Proctor DWI chair, where are you now?
Ten years ago — Oct. 19, 2009 — Dennis LeRoy Anderson pleaded guilty to driving a motorized lounge chair while under the influence of alcohol. The incident happened more than a year prior — on Aug. 31, 2008. Anderson hit a parked vehicle while driving away from the Keyboard Lounge in Proctor. (more…)
Meet the Candidates: Duluth General Election 2019
Candidates for Duluth municipal and school board positions spoke about their platforms in anticipation of the Nov. 5 General Election. The video was recorded in the Duluth Public Access Community Television Studio.
Indigenous Peoples Day 2019 Celebration and Proclamation
Indigenous Peoples Day Celebration and Proclamation, recorded Oct. 14 on the steps of Duluth City Hall by Duluth Public Access Community Television.
Steamer Augustus B. Wolvin, “Queen of the Lakes”
This image from Detroit Publishing Company shows the Great Lakes freighter Augustus B. Wolvin on Lake Superior at Duluth. The vessel was built for the Acme Steamship Company of Duluth and launched April 9, 1904. The Library of Congress dates the image above as “between 1904 and 1910.” (more…)
Selective Focus: William A. Irvin on the Move
Instagram
41 likes, 4 comments - lissamaki on October 16, 2019: "A little bit of a squeeze. #williamirvin #Duluth #lakesuperior #ilikebigboats".
instagram.com
The SS William A. Irvin was moved back to the Minnesota Slip yesterday evening after being worked on at Fraser Shipyards in Superior since September 2018. The ship began its trip from Fraser at 5:30 p.m. and arrived at the Minnesota Slip bridge at 8:30 p.m. It took more than two hours to guide the big boat through the narrow blue bridge back to its permanent home. Here are a few views of the process, via Instagram. (more…)
UMD Senior Spirit: Richard Gurske
Richard Gurske has been attending University of Minnesota Duluth athletic events since before there was a University of Minnesota Duluth.
Postcards from Duluth Normal School (UMD Old Main)
The postmark on the card above is difficult to read, but it appears to have been mailed in March of 1916. It depicts the State Normal School at Duluth, which later became the State Teachers College and then the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Old Main building. (more…)
Scenic Fall Aerial Footage from Itasca County
Iron Range-based Leedrick Aerial Imaging produced this video of autumn scenery in the Holman Lake and Gibbs Park area of Itasca County near the city of Taconite, about 80 miles northwest of Duluth.
Duluth Trivia Deck Sampler #24
Another card from the Duluth Trivia game. (more…)
The Autumn Leaves – “Back to Me”
Minneapolis band the Autumn Leaves released the song “Back to Me” on the 2008 album Long Lost Friend. Duluth lands in the lyrics at the 1:26 mark.
The photographs we took in the photo booth
The trips we planned to take up near Duluth
PDD Quiz: History of Hunters Park
Test your knowledge of local history with this week’s quiz on Hunters Park, the second installment in a series of quizzes focusing on Twin Ports neighborhoods. The first was on the history of Morgan Park. Sound off in the comments on which neighborhoods you’d like to see featured in a future quiz.
Zenith City Press and the Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections of UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library were invaluable sources of content for this quiz. Many of the maps and images from the quiz were accessed through Minnesota Reflections; check it out for even more historical content.
The next PDD quiz, reviewing headlines and happenings from this month, will be published on Oct. 27. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Oct. 24. (more…)
R.I.P. Amendola Building
The Amendola Building at 405 E. Superior St. was demolished today to make way for Essentia Health’s Vision Northland project.
(more…)Duluth Climate Mobilization Campaign Launch
Recorded Sept. 24 at Gichi-ode’ Akiing by Duluth Public Access Community Television.
Quirky vintage store will replace iconic Carr’s Hobby Shop

Beth Petrowske, left, and Jack Carr pose inside Carr’s Hobby Shop in Lincoln Park. Petrowske is buying the hobby shop building and will convert it to Boathouse Treats & Treasures.
A new store featuring a quirky assortment of vintage clothes, rare collectibles and usable curios will replace one of the oldest and most storied businesses in Lincoln Park early next year. (more…)
Selective Focus: Matthew Dressel
Matthew Dressel is a Duluth filmmaker, screenwriter and movie enthusiast. He has served as host and festival director to the Duluth Superior Film Festival, and like most movie makers, seems to always have something in the works. This week in Selective Focus, we hear about some current and past projects, and challenges of putting work out to a YouTube audience.
MD: For as long as I can remember I’ve primarily considered myself to be a screenwriter. The problem with screenwriting, however, is that you need to wait for people to see it. This can take years and, for some, may never happen at all. So it’s a lot of waiting with potentially no pay-off. So along the way, I try to make things when I’m able. Up until recently, this has meant making short films, but this past year I’ve gotten into creating my own web series called The Pilot is Dead.
Dan and Joanne Devine, Fall 1947
It’s Homecoming Weekend at the University of Minnesota Duluth, and in the spirit of that we roll out this relic from 1947, supplied by Kristy Roschke, managing director of the News Co/Lab at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. The photo is of her grandparents, Dan and Joanne Devine, partaking in homecoming festivities at UMD. Joanne was homecoming queen; Dan was captain of the football and basketball teams. (more…)
Bob Boone and Leif Enger on CBS This Morning: Saturday
According to the West Theater Facebook page and a post on the neighborhood social networking website Nextdoor, CBS This Morning: Saturday shot a segment at the West Theater in Duluth that will air Oct. 12 during the 6 to 8 a.m. broadcast.
Apparently the show’s host, Jeff Glor, interviews West Theater owner Bob Boone and best-selling author Leif Enger. The Nextdoor post notes the West Theater will open at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday for a free screening of the broadcast. The West Theater Facebook page lists 8 a.m. as the time of the screening.
“Iron Will” movie video with Duluth annotations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rt0CSmUt4E
The adventure drama Iron Will premiered on Jan. 14, 1994. Much of the film was shot in Duluth and areas near Duluth from Jan. 11 to April 1, 1993. The annotations below are a guide to spotting familiar people and locations. (more…)
Gaelynn Lea – “The Long Way Around”
The official music video for Gaelynn Lea‘s new single, “The Long Way Around,” was shot, directed, edited and produced by Dave Mehling in Duluth, with assistance in the shooting by Rachael Stigsell and Paul Tressler.
The line drawings are by Lee Zimmerman. The actor is Vlad Messing. (more…)












