Minnesota Point and Park Point
Chasing the Sunset in Duluth
The latest video from “The Frozen Photog” Adam Jagunich features scenes from sunset at Park Point and Brighton Beach in Duluth.
Postcard from the Minnesota Point Lighthouse Ruins
This postcard was mailed 115 years ago. It shows the ruins of the Minnesota Point Lighthouse, which ended its run as a functional lighthouse in 1885. The faded postmark on the card is from February 1910. (more…)
Alfred Merritt on the beauty of the Head of the Lakes
We passed through the old Superior entry into Superior bay about 2 p.m. on Oct. 28, 1856. I wish that you could have seen how beautiful the Head of the Lakes looked at that time. It was practically in a state of nature. The Indians were there, with their wigwams scattered up and down Minnesota and Wisconsin points, with the smoke curling from the top of the wigwams, and their canoes skimming along the waters of the bay or hauled upon the shore. Fish and game were in abundance. Tall pines and hardwood trees were growing on the hillsides and down to the water’s edge, and with the leaves of the hardwood trees turned as they were in the fall, what a beautiful sight it was. I have many times wished that I had a picture as it looked then, or a gift of language to describe the beauty of the Head of the Lakes as I saw it as a boy of 9 years old.
— Alfred Merritt
On July 24, 1925 — one hundred years ago today — the Duluth Herald published the reminiscences of Duluth pioneer Alfred Merritt. The text was excerpted from Merritt’s autobiography, which had been penned 10 years prior. (more…)
Duluth Deep Dive #1: Sandbars
From top to bottom, freshwater sandbars in Lake Eerie, Lake Baikal and our own on Lake Superior. In each image, the red line represents 15 miles. (Images from Google Earth)
The 10-mile combined length of Minnesota and Wisconsin Point is often described as one of the world’s longest natural freshwater sandbars. But which sandbars is it being compared against? This post takes a closer look at the world’s longest sandbars (and includes a Geoguessr challenge of remarkable sandbars around the world). (more…)
EmbalmingEva – “Scared of Me?”
Galalee Wright and Jesse Hatten take to the sand dunes of Minnesota Point in their latest EmbalmingEva music video.
Postcard from Park Point Bathing Beach
This undated postcard from Kreiman’s Lyceum News & Book Store sports an illustration of Park Point in the vicinity of South Tenth Street, referred to as “Tenth Ave.” on the front of the card. The 72-degree temperature is cited as proof Duluth is “the air-conditioned city.” (more…)
The Final Resting Place of Private John Matthew McGillis
Left: Private John Matthew McGillis, photo courtesy of Jasper van Kampen. Right: His burial place (Photo by Matthew James)
John Matthew McGillis, known to his family on Duluth’s Park Point as Jack, died on Christmas Day 1944, one day before the end of major fighting in the final German offensive of World War II. He wasn’t a combat soldier. (more…)
Park Point Land Grab
This Duluth News Tribune article talks about Kathy Cargill’s comments about Duluthians in the Wall St Journal.
Said a billionaire Heiress named Kathy
“The locals are yokels
Their houses are crappy”
No accounting for taste
She bulldozed in haste
And wonders why the neighbors aren’t happy
Cargill buying spree on Park Point exceeds a dozen properties
Mayor enlists councilors to request Cargills share Park Point plans - Duluth News Tribune | News, weather, and sports from Duluth, Minnesota
As a wealthy family continues to snap up property on the world's longest freshwater sandbar in Duluth, concern and curiosity about their intentions builds.
duluthnewstribune.com
The Duluth News Tribune reports Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert wrote a letter to billionaire Kathy Cargill in February asking to discuss her plans for properties she and her representatives purchased on Park Point. The Star Tribune reports two properties sold at the end of February on Minnesota Avenue’s 1500 and 1400 blocks. Cargill’s limited liability company, North Shore LS, has acquired a dozen properties on Park Point in the past 14 months. The Strib notes “the LLC also owns a home on the point bought in 2021, and a Lake Superior shorefront condo in eastern Duluth.”
Booze in the Blender on the Beach with Troy Rogers
Troy Rogers, the artist behind the cart full of musical robots known as Robot Rickshaw, has developed a drill-powered blender for use on the beach. Park Point will never be the same.
Postcard from the Babes on Park Point
This undated postcard features a trio of sunbathing beauties on Park Point circa the 1960s.
Postcard from Minnesota Point Lighthouse
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Nov. 7, 1912. A previous Perfect Duluth Day post featured a different version of the same card, mailed four months earlier. That post includes additional background info on the lighthouse.
Also previously noted on PDD, the remains of the lighthouse have remained in roughly the same condition for more than a century. (more…)
Minnesota Point: Duluth’s Hay Fever Haven and Summer Resort
In the early half of the 20th century Duluth was often promoted as a haven for those who suffer from hay fever. Such is the case with this postcard of a trolley car on Minnesota Point, mailed Aug. 23, 1912 — 110 years ago today. (more…)
Minnesota Point Lighthouse Painting
This painting by the late Sylvia S. Reasor was sitting among the Pink Floyd lighters, Bob Marley patches, bongs, sex toys and whatnot at the Last Place on Earth liquidation auction this past weekend. (more…)
Postcard from the Jorgensons on Minnesota Point
Remember the Pettersen gals photo on Point of Rocks? Well, they’ve turned up in another old Duluth pic, this time on the beach at Minnesota Point. (more…)
Postcard from the Incline Railway with View of Minnesota Point
This postcard was mailed from Superior on Sept. 27, 1906 — 115 years ago today — by W. F. McMannis. The recipient was Miss Mabelle Reed of West Dover, Ohio. The image depicts the Duluth Incline Railway, showing the view from the top of the Duluth harbor and waterfront district, and of course Minnesota Point. (more…)
Red Flag Warning
It’s almost suspicious how often I happen to be nearby when bodies are pulled out of the water. Am I a jinx or a murderer? No, I just like being by water. And it’s pretty well documented that water is a serial killer.
I’ve already written the essay “Lake Superior Wants to Kill You,” outlining just about everything I want to share on the subject of drowning. There’s one more warning worth putting forward, however, regarding the various ways you can lose your life in the water. So please keep this in mind:
I won’t try to stop you from putting yourself in danger, and it’s unlikely anyone else will, other than maybe your mommy.
Of course, you’ll probably get some general, impersonal warnings. This essay and my other essay, for starters. There are warnings in the media constantly. And then on Minnesota Point in Duluth we have those red flags and warning signs on the beach. But that’s all you get. And it’s not enough, obviously.
Telling someone about the dangers of rip currents is like warning about the potential for pregnancy. The risk vs. reward balance is quickly weighed and then it’s time to get wet. (more…)
Lanue – “Mexico”
An excerpt from the WDSE-TV special Northern Rhythms featuring Lanue.
“How did you think this was going to turn out, mom?”
In the latest episode of “Do Not Attempt,” Casey Rice takes a ride on a Minnesota Point iceberg.
Shredded aluminum cans found on Park Point beach
The city of Duluth and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers are urging caution for anyone using Park Point beach between the shipping canal on the lakeside to 13th Street South as pieces of shredded aluminum cans have been found. The cans are believed to have been inadvertently deposited when dredge materials were placed on the far north beach section this past fall. Dredge material was placed on the beach after the Park Point Community Club and Park Point residents approached the city and other partners with shoreline erosion concerns exacerbated by high water levels. (more…)
Shuttered Park Point church orchestrates big land sale
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church sits on just under one acre of land adjacent to Lake Superior on Minnesota Point. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A historic church building perched on Lake Superior beachfront property is up for sale and the top bidder will win the largest developable site available in the Park Point neighborhood.
Our Lady of Mercy/St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church officials will open bids for Our Lady of Mercy church, 2002 Minnesota Ave., on Feb. 1. The small neighborhood church was closed in July 2016 and its nearly one-acre lakeside parcel was listed for sale three months ago. The asking price is $650,000. (more…)
Minnesota Point in Winter Circa 1875
Photographers William Caswell and William Henry Davy ran a studio in Duluth circa 1870-75 and were responsible for many of the stereographs circulated during the era. The image above depicts a typical winter scene along the shore of Lake Superior. (more…)
Postcard from Duluth Harbor South Breakwater Inner Light
This undated postcard features an image of the lighthouse on the Minnesota Point side of the Duluth Ship Canal. The card must be from the first half of the 20th Century, because the postage rate noted on the back is one cent and the U.S. postcard rate switched to two cents in 1952. The lighthouse was first lit in 1901 and remains there today. It was sold at auction in 2008 to Steven Sola and Matt Kampf, but the U.S. Coast Guard continues to maintain it.