Roaring Twenties
Sledding Duluth’s Avenues in 1921
One hundred years ago there were far fewer cars on Duluth’s streets, but it was still considered dangerous to sled down the city’s steep avenues. So Duluth Police Chief Warren E. Pugh surveyed the city and selected a few recommended avenues that posed “the least danger to life and limb,” according to the Duluth Herald of Nov. 22, 1921. (more…)
Albert Heyroth gets electricity out of air in 1921
West Duluth was the scene of windmill experiments a century ago, according to a story in the Oct. 31, 1921 Duluth Herald. Albert Herman Heyroth was hard at work at 55th Avenue West and Raleigh Street attempting to generate electricity for home energy use. (more…)
Duluth considers “trackless trolley” in 1921
One century ago the Duluth Street Railway Company — predecessor to the Duluth Transit Authority — was keeping a close eye on plans for adding trolley buses in Minneapolis. How long did it take for Duluth to get it’s first “trackless trolley”? Pretty much exactly ten more years.
According to Zenith City Online, Duluth’s first trolley buses ran on Oct. 4, 1931. The Duluth Herald reported about Duluth considering trolley buses in its Oct. 6, 1921 issue, one hundred years ago today. (more…)
Wally Gilbert joins Duluth football eleven in 1921
On Aug. 25, 1921 the Duluth Herald reported that former Denfeld and Valparaiso football standout Wally Gilbert had agreed to join the Duluth Knights of Columbus football team. The “K.C.” team, or “Kaysees,” turned out to be the region’s best pro football squad. Facing all Minnesota and Wisconsin teams at Athletic Park in Duluth, the team racked up a 9-0 record and outscored opponents 278-0 before dropping a playoff game in Illinois to the Rock Island Independents. (more…)
An Elaborate Contrivance for Suicide
One hundred years ago a delusional Superior man hung himself in his home in front of a wall painted with a crucifix. The June 19, 1921 suicide was reported in the Duluth Herald on June 20. (more…)
Woodland baseball team of 1921 had grand season
This photo from the May 21, 1921 Duluth Herald shows the baseball team from Duluth’s Woodland neighborhood, which compiled a 7-3 record — a “grand season” by Roaring Twenties standards. According to the photo caption, the team played indoor baseball in the Cobb School gymnasium.
The Assailants of John L. Morrison
One hundred years ago the assailants of Duluth Ripsaw newspaper publisher John L. Morrison appeared in court one week after attacking him in his office. The May 19, 1921 Duluth Herald provides an account of the incident. (more…)
St. Louis County Jail designs approved in 1921 … sort of
One hundred years ago today — May 11, 1921 — the Duluth Herald published a story about plans for a new St. Louis County Jail. The building that would eventually be constructed looks somewhat similar to the drawing here, but there were numerous changes to the plan. (more…)
Mayor Snively welcomes Blackfeet chiefs to Duluth in 1921
On May 4, 1921 — one hundred years ago today — newly elected Duluth Mayor Samuel Snively welcomed to the city five chiefs from the Blackfeet Tribe of Montana. (more…)
West Duluth kids rarely strayed from neighborhood in 1920s
An article in the Duluth Herald of April 28, 1921 — one hundred years ago today — calls attention to how western Duluth kids seldom ventured to the center of town, much less to the eastern side. (more…)
Curley the Trapper brings body of scurvy victim through Duluth
One hundred years ago today a Duluth native completed his mission to recover the body of a former Duluth man who died of scurvy deep in the woods of Manitoba. (more…)
Last Rites of John Defoe
One hundred years ago today the Duluth Herald reported on military honors given to John Defoe, who the paper credits as “the first American Indian who fell in the World war to be returned to his native land for burial.” (more…)
Duluth’s longest mayoral term started in 1921
On April 5, 1921 — one hundred years ago today — Samuel Frisby Snively was elected mayor of Duluth. He held the office for four terms spanning 16 years. Duluth has had two three-term mayors who served for 12 years, John Fedo and Gary Doty. (more…)
Commercial Cafe opens under new management in 1921
This advertisement in the March 29, 1921 Duluth Herald promotes the reopening of the Commercial Cafe at 10 N. 20th Ave. W. in what is now Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The location is probably where DLH Clothing is operating a retail store today, although all businesses in that building use the address 12 N. 20th Ave. W.
Then and Now: Looking Down 43rd Avenue West
The top half of the graphic above is from a real estate advertisement in the Oct. 22, 1920 edition of the Duluth Herald, promoting lots on 43rd Avenue West near Eighth Street in West Duluth. The bottom half is an attempt to capture the modern perspective via Google Maps. In the modern view, trees block three of the four homes shown in the 1920 view, but one of them can been seen and the other three, though not in view, are still standing. (more…)
Serpent Lake, 1920
This photo of Serpent Lake, about 80 miles west of Duluth, includes an illustrated map of the route. It appeared in the Duluth Herald 100 years ago today — Sept. 16, 1920. Let it serve as a reminder to wear a white shirt and a tie when paddling. (more…)
Potato and molasses home brew odor vile
According to an article in the Sept. 22, 1920 Duluth Herald, the combination of potatoes and molasses in a home brew can be “quite potent.” The paper notes that Anthony Fiskett, Duluth’s acting chief of police at the time, might have needed to have his headquarters fumigated after hauling in an evidential keg of the pungent concoction. (more…)
Stewart Shoe Company of West Duluth
One hundred years ago the Stewart Shoe Company was on its way out and American Bakery Company was on its way in at 324 N. Central Ave. in West Duluth. The building there was constructed in 1894 and today is occupied by Wussow’s Concert Cafe, which opened under the name Beaner’s Central in 1999. (more…)
Kresge Girls’ Baseball Team of 1920
From the Aug. 28, 1920 Duluth Herald.
Duluth’s North Star Festival and Golden Jubilee of 1920
The Duluth Public Library’s Vintage Duluth blog has published a feature on Duluth’s North Star Festival and Golden Jubilee, which took place 100 years ago. The events marked Duluth’s 50th year as a city. (more…)
Dwight Woodbridge’s 1920 Sub-Arctic Exploration
One century ago, Duluth’s Dwight Woodbridge returned from a trip exploring “uncharted islands” in Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada. His story appears in the Aug. 10, 1920 Duluth Herald. (more…)
West Duluth Gardens of 1920
There seems to be a gardening boom in 2020, obviously due to more people staying home during the pandemic. West Duluth has a bit of a reputation for having had numerous gardens a century ago that slowly petered out in more recent decades. According to an article in the Aug. 7, 1920 Duluth Herald, gardening in West Duluth got a big boost from the neighborhood’s commercial club. (more…)
Duluth’s Neighborhood Telephone Exchanges, 1920
One hundred years is a long time, and the Duluth of one hundred years ago can seem like a place without much connection to the present. But whether we are aware of them or not, elements of the past always carry over into the present. As an illustration of that, these five images, taken by Duluth photographer Hugh McKenzie and included in UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library Archives and Special Collections, show the city’s neighborhood telephone exchanges in 1920. Shown individually below, they are followed by the most recent Google Streetview image of the same location. (more…)
Northeastern Minnesota Nomenclature: How Duluth-area cities, townships, lakes and rivers were named
One hundred years ago, the Minnesota Historical Society published a 735-page book by Warren Upham outlining the history behind the names of Minnesota municipalities and bodies of water. (more…)
The Value of Duluth Telephone Service in 1920
This advertisement in the March 9, 1920 issue of the Duluth Herald notes Duluth had 20,706 telephones. (more…)