Image of the tugboat, Ella G. Stone, anchored off of the rocky shoreline in Burlington Bay. The Ella G. Stone was the first Duluth and Iron Range Company Tug used to supply workers and materials to build railroads and ore docks in Two Harbors (1883-1896).
Image taken from bluff above bay showing passenger steamer "Ossifrage" at dock. Large dock owned by the Weiland Family, a prosperous family that owned and operated a lumber company out of Beaver Bay (1860-1883). Note the group of men and women of the village standing next to a tipi in the image foreground. Weiland homestead on hill above the dock.
Image of John Beargrease and brother delivering mail for Grand Marais, Minnesota by dogsled. Packed trail is somewhere between Two Harbors and Grand Marais, Minnesota. Before road improvements in the 1920s, a combination of dogsleds, steam ships, sail boats, and sleighs were used to deliver mail to settlements north of Two Harbors. Working in pairs, contracted carriers would make the perilous journey twice weekly.
Central Hillside; downtown; Duluth Skyride; Seventh Avenue West incline railway; tracks; view up Seventh Avenue West in downtown Duluth; brick row house; apartment buildings; power lines; people; houses; trees; stairs; sidewalk; pedestrians; summer; the incline was put into service late in 1891 to connect Superior Street streetcar lines with a line running a short distance from the hilltop into Duluth Heights; the original cars were large enough to hold four teams of horses with wagons as well as large groups of people; in 1911 two news cars were installed under control of an operator at the top of the hill; a conductor opened and closed the doors and collected fares; its last run was Labor Day 1939
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Street scene shows a packed dirt road lined with sidewalks. Several multi-story houses line the road. Two harbors courthouse on the right. Two Churches on the left. Identified as 4th Avenue, Two Harbors.
Mail delivery, especially in the winter, was tough on the north shore of Lake Superior. During the wintertime, a combination of sleigh and dogsled were used to distribute mail and people north of Two Harbors. Not until 1925 when the roads were improved North of Two Harbors could mail carriers easily travel their routes.
View to harbor from about fifth street looking down tracks of seventh avenue west incline; no buildings on either side of tracks; stumps and bare ground
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Incline at sixty-first and Grand avenue West Duluth; Duluth Belt Line railway began in 1889 abandoned 1916; man in building; man and reclining dog outside; houses
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The Claude Turner design for the original Aerial Bridge from 1901. Many companies and designers vied for this project. The bridge was built in 1904-1905. This drawing shows the spires and steel structural detail as well as the concrete footings and dimensions. Both towers are shown with an end view. In 1929 the suspended car transfer was eliminated and a lift span was installed.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Detailed drawing of the suspended car, or gondola, and the vertical structure that holds it. This is the element that moves from one side of the bridge to the other above the canal. This transfer car could hold vehicles and people. Normal speed of the car was 4 miles per hour; it made the trip in about 1 minute. This drawing includes dimensions of individual structural elements such as braces. Drawing 160, Sheet M4. Turner is identified as engineer, 816 Phoenix Building Duluth.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
A side elevation of the car, or gondola, which carried vehicles and people across the canal. The drawing shows: decorative circular metal plate with the word Duluth and floral-like details, wooden wall with windows, open lattice feature. Plan of strut is drawn as a detail for the bridge builders. Drawing 163, Sheet M7.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Two detailed drawings of the car, or gondola, which carried vehicles and people across the canal. The drawing shows etched glass, punctured decorative steel plates, electric light fixtures, seats with perforated wood bottoms, maple flooring, glass paneled doors, lattice rail, copper flashing, wire supports, wire ropes, dimensions, floor beams, pine planks, and oak flooring. Drawing 162 Sheet M6.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Technical details and named parts of the suspended car and its supporting structure for the bridge's builders. Included on the drawing are dimensions, rivet poles, braces, center lines, bolt connections, plates, trusses, knee brace, hanger roll. Drawing 161, Sheet M5.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
There are three drawn details: end view, part side elevation, lateral bracing in horizontal plane. The towers are the two end parts of the bridge that hold the central span and the suspended car. The towers are referred to as North and South. The South Tower is nearer to Minnesota Point, the North Tower is on the "mainland." Drawing 167, Sheet M11.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This is a general elevation drawing, plus end view of both towers. The suspended car transfer is in the center of the bridge drawing over the canal. Dimensions are included for the distance from the water to the bottom of the bridge span (135 feet) and the footings. The drawing shows small stone and gravel fill near and around the concrete footings at the base of each tower. The finials are shown in detail. Lake Avenue is shown from one tower to the other. Drawing H-5421A, U.S. Patent February 1903.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Three girls in a two-wheeled horse-drawn cart. The reverse side of the photograph indicates that the cart belonged to Sadie Davis, who was graduated from St. Peter High School in 1906.
A view of the bridge across Spring Lake, east of St. Peter. This negative was used to produce postcards. This image was made from a glass plate negative.
This photograph shows the Broadway Bridge over the Minnesota River at St. Peter in 1908, a year of extensive flooding along the river. The bridge was constructed in order to permit it to turn to allow the passage of riverboats. It spanned the river from about 1887 to about 1930. Notice the two grain elevators in the distance in Le Sueur County.
This photograph shows a man with a horse-drawn wagon in front of the William Rinkel Dry Goods and Groceries Store in St. Peter at 108 South Minnesota Avenue. The caption on the reverse indicates that Chas. H. Clark was going camping at Lake Emily, and that the name of the horse was Prince. Dr. G. F. Merritt's office can be seen at right.
The caption says The Aerial Bridge Span 393 feet 9 inches, 135 feet high from water line, cost $100,000 Duluth, Minn. A few more details that are not on this card are that the Aerial Bridge was completed in February, 1905. The Aerial Bridge transporter or gondola or transfer car roadway was 17 feet by 50 feet with sidewalks seven feet by 50 feet and the cabins were 30 feet long. This original bridge was modified with the lift span in 1929 and first operated March 19, 1930.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Ore boat leaving Duluth. Detroit Publishing Co. was a prolific post card publisher, especially in the U.S. Their cards were published from 1898 to 1933. Using a color process called Phostint, their cards were considered to be very artistic. The hobby of collecting post cards is called deltiology. The first post card was issued by the Austrian government, America's first postcards came out in 1873. Picture postcards were introduced later. The golden age of postcards was supposed to date from 1907 through the first World War.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Whaleback is an unusual ship design with steel hulls (body of the vessel) and rounded decks (boat, hurricane, main -which is the lowest full-length deck in a ship's hull, and spar are all decks at different levels) which was introduced by the inventor Captain Alexander McDougall of Duluth in 1888. It was a very stable vessel. American Steel Barge Company, a New York corporation engaged in shipbuilding and transportation on the Great Lakes as well as on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, purchased all of the patents for McDougalls whaleback vessels for $25,000. The only remaining whaleback is the Meteor, which is now a museum at Barker's Island in Superior, Wisconsin.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This photograph shows several Nicollet County women in an early automobile. They include Mrs. Harry Moore, Florence Moore, Dora Brown, and Emily Brown.
West Duluth; Elliott and Company truck at Superior Street and Twenty-sixth Avenue west; worker; leather gloves; wool cap; Elliott processed meat; meat packing; winter; snow; Scott Graff lumber company; streetcar
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
In 1893, James J. Hill's Northern Steamship Company built 385-foot ocean style passenger steamers. 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 Canadian steel steamer Huronic was constructed in Collingwood, Ontario, in 1902. She ran on the Northern Navigation Division of the Canadian Steamship Company, on cruise trips from Detroit to Duluth. In 1940, the Huronic was dismantled and made into a package freighter.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This photograph shows a horse-drawn sled in St. Peter on South Third Street. The old Fire Station, with its steeple, can be seen near the far left, and the J. M. Peterson blacksmith shop can be seen on the future site of the St. Peter Post Office.
This photograph shows people waiting at the railroad depot near St. Peter, Minnesota, for the train that will take area men away to serve in World War One. This depot served St. Peter, but was located in Le Sueur County, on the east side of the Minnesota River.
East Hillside; Street; Fifth Avenue East and Fifth Street looking west; children; streetcar tracks; houses; telephone poles; sign painted on side of frame building says Gold Medal Flour; fire hydrant; dirt streets
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
East Hillside; Street; Fifth Avenue East and Fifth Street looking north; children; streetcar tracks; houses; telephone poles; church with steeple; fire hydrant; dirt streets
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Morgan Park; Streetcar waiting station; stood at the edge of the manager's district in the eastern neighborhood; trees; man; buildings; houses; sidewalks; streets; car; 16335
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Image of steam powered shovel stamped with "Foley Brothers Contractors" on the side. Shovel is loading a horse drawn wagon with dirt. Construction of Caribou River section of Trunk Highway 1, now known as Scenic Highway 61. Foley Brothers Contractors, based out of Saint Paul, worked with the Minnesota Highway Department to construct roads across Minnesota including Trunk Highway 1.