Aerial view looking north. North south road in photograph is Columbus Avenue. In the center of photo is Saint Wenceslaus School and Saint Wenceslaus Church. On the lower right side is the eighth hole of the New Prague Golf Course. Written on the back of photograph is 'Chuck from Sharkey's plane.'
Unidentified vessel and crew leave the Duluth harbor. They will pass under the raised lift span of the bridge in calm water. Minnesota Point is at the right with homes visible on Minnesota Avenue. The 6-foot tall lighthouse at the right is 107-years old. It was offered for sale in August 2008 by the federal government with limitations. Its formal name is South Breakwater Inner Light Tower and was owned by the federal government. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The towers light was first lit in 1901. It was bought in December 2008 by Steve Sola and Matt Kampf of Duluth. Their winning bid was more than $31,000. Mr. Sola grew up on Park Point, Kamps in Hibbing, but lived many years on Cape Cod before moving to Duluth. In an interview the men said they didn't know what they were going to do with it. The federal authorities will not allow the structure to be relocated.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
On the morning of May 3, 1959, crowds along the north pier of the Duluth Ship Canal salute the arrival of the British-registered merchant vessel Ramon de Larrinaga, the first upbound ship to traverse the newly opened St. Lawrence Seaway. The ship loaded grain at the Peavey and Cargill elevators before departing for Montreal and a voyage across the North Atlantic.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
View of the Aerial Lift Bridge with lift span raised to allow the William B. Schiller to leave the harbor. Built in 1910, the Schiller was laid up in 1974 and sold for scrap in 1978.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The counterweight is visible through the north tower's structural elements. Two counterweights move in opposition to the bridge. The bridge span weights about 1,000 tons. The two counterweights weigh about 500 tons each. When the bridge span goes up the counterweights go down.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
On Monday, July 1, 1929, the suspended car made its last trip across the canal. The bridge's modification to operate with a lift span began on April 8, 1929, with a low bid of $448,000 by the Kansas City Bridge Company. The Aerial Lift Bridge was first operated on March 19, 1930. The bridge has a clearance of 138 feet when the lift section is completely up and when down it is 16.5 feet above the water. The length of the span is 386 feet and weighs 900 tons. The distance from the water to the lower edge of the truss is 172 feet 7 inches; to the top of the truss it is 227 feet. During the shipping season it makes about 25 lifts a day. The new bridge is owned and operated by the City of Duluth on permit authorized by Congress. The Ship Canal and grounds are under the authority of the Lake Superior Area Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This photograph may have been shot from Seventh Street and about Lake Avenue. The bright narrow strip in the lower middle of the image is Lake Avenue leading to the Aerial Bridge. The rectangle and three dots parallel to the piers of the canal are the remnants of the Whitney rock crushing enterprise. The Whitney Brothers, of Superior, Wisconsin, had a sand and gravel processing business that was functioning in 1919. The concrete form that is still in the water was the dredging/crushing building. A tunnel ran from the building to the Point. There was a conveyor belt and railroad spur adjacent to the concrete building. Sand from the Apostle Islands and gravel from Grand Marais were carried to Duluth on a small vessel named Limit. The business also used a tug the William A. Whitney. The Limit was secured to the concrete building and the load of sand or gravel was unloaded into the steel hopper using a jaw-like clam shell, steam powered device. The belt conveyed the materials to shore and it dropped into a tunnel where trucks were ready. On Federal lake charts it is referred to as cribs. Telephone lines are in this photograph. In 1880, the first telephones were installed in Duluth by Walter Van Brunt for C. H. Graves and Company. In 1881, the Duluth Telephone Company was incorporated with $10,000 capital. In 1882, the first telephone directory was issued for 30 subscribers. In 1898, long distance lines between Duluth, Cloquet and Carlton were strung. In 1899, Duluth had 794 telephones. In 1900, the Zenith telephone Company (independent) started operations in competition with Duluth Telephone Company. The tower is the Central High School clock tower. The 1892 school has been the Central Administration Building for ISD 709 since the late 1970s.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections