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
Noronic was the largest Canadian passenger steamship vessel on the Great Lakes. It was owned and operated by the Canada Steamship Lines Limited. On September 16, 1949, docked in the Toronto harbor, the ship burned in the middle of the night with more than 130 passengers losing their lives. The fire started in a linen closet. The design and construction of the 36-year-old ship were also found to be at fault. The interiors had been lined with oiled wood instead of fireproof material. Exits were only located on one deck instead of all five. None of the ships fire hoses were in working order. Damage suits for the Noronic were settled for just over $2 million. In 1911, the peak year, 80,000 passengers traveled to Lake Superior. After 1920, the number of passenger cruise ships diminished with the advent of "motor-cars." Very few cruise ships were still in service after World War II. The last of those, the South American, made its last visit to Duluth in the 1966 season.
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
Leif Erikson Park is the site of the half-size replica of the Leif Erikson boat the "Norwegian Vikings" sailed to America in 997 A. D. The boat was donated to the city of Duluth by Enger and Olson, Inc. (furniture store owned by Bert Enger of Enger Park and Enger Tower) in 1927. The 12-ton, 42 feet long, red and white sail, replica was built of Norway pine and sailed to America from Korgen, Norway, leaving Norway on May 26, 1926, arriving in Duluth after visits to numerous ports, on June 23, 1927. The head and tail were made by a Norwegian architect.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Two unidentified men hold a copy of a national magazine whose cover features the Aerial Bridge. These men are probably with the Chamber of Commerce. The June 14, 1947, Saturday Evening Post cover of Duluth Aerial Bridge with boat is by John Atherton. John Carlton Atherton was born in Brainerd, Minnesota, on June 7, 1900. Atherton would eventually illustrate over forty covers for Saturday Evening Post, starting with his December 1942 design, Patient Dog. In the late 1940s, Albert Dorne, fellow Saturday Evening Post illustrator, founded the Famous Artists School, an institution to teach the art of correspondence illustration. John Atherton was among the famous artists such as Al Parker, Jon Witcomb, and Norman Rockwell, who contributed to the program. Atherton eventually moved to Arlington, Vermont. The famous illustrator and artist died at age fifty-two (in 1952) in a drowning accident while fly-fishing in New Brunswick, Canada. He was survived by his wife, Maxine Breeze.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
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
A laker prepares to leave the harbor through the Ship Canal in this view of downtown Duluth, Canal Park and Minnesota Point from the hillside. In the center right of the image is a rear view of the Duluth Civic Center buildings. In Canal Park on the left of the image we can see the DeWitt Seitz and Marshall Wells buildings. Zenith was a brand name used by Marshall Wells.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
A view to the canal with the Duluth business district in the foreground. The 1896 Sacred Heart Cathedral steeple is in the right corner in front of the building that is now the Damiano Center (clothes distribution and soup kitchen). The cathedral, now a music center, and the Damiano are at 211 and 206 West Fourth Street. At the left is the smokestack of the Duluth Steam Plant built in 1932 that continues to provide heat to downtown businesses. To the left of the smokestack is the five-story Freimuth's Department store which opened in 1900 on the corner of Lake Avenue and Superior Street. It was Duluth's oldest family owned firm when it closed in 1961 with 60 employees. The Freimuth's building was razed in May 1968. On the far right on Superior Street are the tall, slim Alworth building (16 stories) dating from 1909, and the light colored Medical Arts building on the site of the St. Louis Hotel. The hotel was razed beginning May 19, 1932. September 1, 1932 contractors broke ground for the Medical Arts building. Signs in Canal Park include Marshall-Wells Hardware Company and Griggs, Cooper and Company. Griggs Cooper was a wholesale grocer and liquor business at 217-219 Lake Avenue South featuring Home brand food.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Consolidated Elevator Company built elevators B, C, D 1884 with a 1.2 million bushel capacity, and G from 1878-1945 in the Duluth harbor parallel to downtown Duluth and perpendicular to Rice's Point.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The re-election campaign of President Truman brought him to cities in Minnesota including Duluth where he was celebrated by local Democrats at the Duluth Armory.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The Duluth Athletic Club building at 402 West First Street burned January 22, 1943. The Athletic Club moved temporarily to the Lexon Hotel and had the first street building rebuilt and remodeled in 1946-1947 by Harold D. Starin.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Parade of members of the Toboggan and Snowshoe Association in their white hats and coats along Superior Street in downtown Duluth. The orignal image was taken February 22, 1886 by Carl Thiel and Edward H. Foster and was later copied by Hugh McKenzie.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The scrapbook holds correspondence, news clippings, photographs of students with short statements and art work by them. Sight saving classes began in 1913 to accommodate children with partial vision. Ely School, of Duluth public schools, began in 1919 at Jefferson School.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The Hull-Rust-Mahoning mine established in 1892 in Hibbing is one of the largest open pit iron ore mines in the world, with a 1.5 by 3.5 mile footprint and depths up to 600 feet. It supplied as much as a fourth of all the ore mined in the U. S. during its peak production during WWI and WWII.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The Lyceum Theater was designed by Oliver G. Traphagen of the Traphagen and Fitzpatrick firm in Duluth. It was built in 1890 and opened August 4, 1891 with "Mr. Wilkinson's Widows". It seated 1,500 people. It closed in November 1960, and was torn down in January 1966.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections