Morgan Park
Postcard from Spirit Lake in Duluth
This postcard might have been mailed 100 years ago today. The year on the postmark has worn out over time, but is clearly from the 1920s and seems most likely to be 1925. The date is Nov. 8. The image shows a view of Spirit Lake on the St. Louis River from the shores of Duluth in the Morgan Park neighborhood. (more…)
Morgan Park church wins place on national registry
United Protestant Church member Bob Berg, left, Moderator Marna Fasteland and Pastor Mitch Nelson stand in a back balcony inside the church sanctuary. The Morgan Park church was recently added to the National Register of Historic Places. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A monumental concrete block church constructed by idle steelworkers in early 19th-century Morgan Park earned national recognition last month and will be a stop on a historic building tour this weekend in Duluth. (more…)
Old Morgan Park Apartment Houses
Former Duluthian Ina Wesenberg contacted Perfect Duluth Day with the hope that someone can provide information about an old apartment complex she lived in as a child in the 1950s. She recalls it was on the western edge of the Morgan Park neighborhood, away from the concrete homes of the planned community. (more…)
Morgan Park: Remembering Our Past
Retired Duluth Fire Chief John Strongitharm put together this half-hour photo slideshow depicting the history of Duluth’s Morgan Park neighborhood. It’s been 50 years since United States Steel announced it would begin phasing out its Duluth Mill operations, but much of the Model Community it created in the early 20th century remains. (more…)
Postcard from American Steel and Wire Works
This undated postcard was published by H. C. Wick Company of Duluth, and features an Ektachrome photograph by Rod Peterson.
The caption on the back of the card reads:
American Steel & Wire plant at Morgan Park, Duluth, Minn. View from Skyline Boulevard.
Postcards from Universal Atlas Cement Company
The postcard above was published by Arrowhead Trading Post of Duluth. It depicts part of the U.S. Steel Duluth Works campus, with Universal Atlas Cement Company in the foreground. (more…)
Postcard from U.S. Steel’s Machine Shop and Power House
U.S. Steel’s Duluth Works plant in Morgan Park had more than 50 buildings when production began in 1915. This undated postcard highlights the machine shop and power house. (more…)
Funding agreement in place for St. Louis River cleanup
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Steel Corp. announced an agreement yesterday to undertake a $75 million cleanup and restoration project at the former Duluth Works site on the St. Louis River at Spirit Lake in Duluth. This is part of a larger effort to restore the St. Louis River Area of Concern through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. (more…)
Morgan Park coffee shop returning as Letica’s Iron Mug
Morgan Park’s only restaurant and beverage purveyor closed on May 25 after nearly four years in business. On June 9 it will reopen under new ownership. The Duluth News Tribune reports Mike Letica is the new proprietor of the Iron Mug. Johnny Northfield will manage the business. Building owner Paul Johnson, who founded the coffee shop, is a silent partner.
The DNT notes Letica plans to steer away from the Iron Mug’s previous food focus, pizza, and is instead planning inexpensive options like Taco Tuesday and 99-cent ice cream cones.
Iron Mug closing May 25
Iron Mug Coffee and Ale House in Duluth’s Morgan Park neighborhood will close May 25 according to a post made on the business’ Facebook page today:
As most of you know we have decided to make the hard decision to close our wonderful restaurant. We have enjoyed getting to know the wonderful people in Morgan Park as well as all the people that drove out to check our place out. I’m so glad that I got to witness and be part of all the new friendships that developed here because that really was what this place was all about. Again thank you for all the support these last four years.
R.I.P. MP: Morgan Park School preliminary demolition underway
Demolition of outbuildings on the Morgan Park School site began this week. Developer Aaron Schweiger plans to construct several 12-plex apartment buildings on the property. It will be called Morgan Park Estates. (more…)
Lost and Found Duluth Relics from Morgan Park and WDSM
Above are the letters that adorned the exterior wall near the entrance to Morgan Park School. They are for sale at Bauer Brothers salvage in Minneapolis. Below is an old WDSM-TV camera discovered at Axman Surplus in St. Paul. (more…)
Popular Mechanics: Duluth adopts system of community garages
According to this very vague story from the November 1921 issue of Popular Mechanics, Duluth may have been at the forefront of developing community garages. What happened? One of the garages shown in the magazine still exists today in the Morgan Park neighborhood. (more…)
R.I.P. St. Margaret Mary Church of Morgan Park
The two photos above, posted to Facebook by Tim Beaulier, show yesterday’s demolition of St. Margaret Mary Church in Duluth’s Morgan Park neighborhood. WDIO-TV’s Eyewitness News reported last week the church was set to be razed. (more…)
Morgan Park housing development secures cleanup grant
The St. Louis River corridor will see a $10 million, 67-unit, market-rate rental housing development thanks in part to a contamination cleanup grant.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development announced last week it will award the Duluth Economic Development Authority $654,051 to advance the vision of Kuepers Inc. of Brainerd in constructing nine additional single-family housing units to accompany its two 29-unit buildings in western Duluth.
Kuepers is completing construction on its Grand Avenue Estates project at 9215 Zimmerly Ave., near Stewart Creek on the northern edge of the Morgan Park neighborhood. (more…)
An Unexpected Arrival in Morgan Park
Does anyone have the story?
Duluth Works Steel Mill Presentation
Sammy Maida produced this documentary about U.S. Steel’s Duluth Works operation. Maida built a 20-by-6-foot model diorama of the mill that was on display at Saint George Serbian Orthodox Church in June.
Morgan Park’s only coffee shop and eatery turns two
Felisha Johnson and her father-in-law, Paul Johnson
When Morgan Park School closed in 2012, the neighborhood seemed to be in decline. Two prominent businesses, Advantage Emblem and Park State Bank, had already moved out. The grocery store and post office were long gone. Nothing new seemed on the horizon.
Paul Johnson and his son Brandon, owners of the Lakeview Store Building, felt the area needed a gathering place. In 2014 they opened Iron Mug Coffee House in the building’s southern end at 1096 88th Ave W. July marks the two-year anniversary of Iron Mug’s opening, while the historic building that served as one of the first indoor shopping malls in the United States recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary. (more…)
Duluth school principals defend short skirts
For your back-to-school reading pleasure, from the Oct. 2, 1921 Duluth News Tribune:
Iron Mug Coffee House in Morgan Park
There is a new coffee shop, deli and pizza place in Duluth’s Morgan Park neighborhood — and it also happens to be the only coffee shop or restaurant of any kind in that neighborhood.
Iron Mug opened on July 30 in the old Lakeview Store building, which was constructed in 1916 to serve as one of the first indoor shopping malls in the United States. The building once housed a grocery store and post office, among other things. The largest major tenant in recent years was Advantage Emblem & Screen Printing, which was located in the building from about 1991 to 2008, before moving to the corner of Haines and Arrowhead roads, near the airport.
Some Iron Mug facts:
- Owned by: Felisha and Brandon Johnson
- Address: 1096 88th Ave. W.
- Phone: 218-464-5408
- Coffee served: Backroads brand from Hayward
- Hours: Open seven days a week — Mondays through Saturdays 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sundays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.:
R.I.P. James Bothwell, 1986 Principal, Morgan Park School
James W. Bothwell died on Jan. 13. He had a long career as a teacher and principal in St. Paul, but in 1986 he had a stint in Duluth as Morgan Park Junior High School’s interim principal, following the mid-school-year retirement of longtime principal Milan S. Karich and preceding the launch of Jon Vomachka’s reign.
I was in seventh grade and not much of an outlaw during Bothwell’s brief term, so I don’t have any good stories to relate, but I remember him seeming to be quite a nice guy. Does anyone have more specific memories to share?
United States Steel Duluth Works
It’s amusing to me that the soundtrack to this slideshow is by Dokken. You might think that’s a poor choice, but I remember 20 years ago the only Duluth kids into Dokken were from Morgan Park, so it makes sense.
Also, tragically, the one sentence of text in the video contains multiple errors, but oh well. (more…)
Everybody Outside! at Morgan Park on Saturday, May 1
If you’re looking for a pre- or post-Leif Erickson destination, or you’re looking for an alternate event for the day, bring the kids to the west side this Saturday between noon and 5 p.m. for Everybody Outside at Morgan Park.
A class group from UMD is putting this event on to offer outdoor recreation opportunities to kids from the whole Twin Ports area but kids in West Duluth specifically. We’ll have camping skills activities, birding by Lake Superior Zoo, disc golf, fishing skills with MinnAqua, skateboarding demos by Damage Boardshop, and slacklining and a bouldering wall to get kids active and outdoors. All activities are free and we’ll be having raffles and food concessions (with proceeds going to the Morgan Park Playground Fund). See you Saturday!
One of the first shopping malls in the United States — Lake View Store in Morgan Park
Lake View Store – Morgan Park – Duluth, MN
Minnesota has had a long history of firsts for shopping malls. It must be the long, cold winters keeping us on the forefront of the indoor shopping experience. Duluth’s Morgan Park Lake View Store being noted as one of the first indoor malls, Southdale Mall in Edina the first post-war enclosed mall and, of course, the Mall of America the United States’ largest and most visited mall in the world.
The Lake View Store in Morgan Park was built in 1915 and had two levels and a basement. There was a butcher shop, clothing, hardware, furniture, a pharmacy and a department store with groceries, and a general store. The top floor had a bank, dentist office, barber shop, hair salon, hat shop, billiard room and auditorium. The basement had an ice-making plant which made eight tons of ice per day for the mall and for Morgan Park residents and a shoe store. Wiki has more info.
Images courtesy of Wolfsonian – Florida International University
