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
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
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
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 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
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
West Duluth; Iron Ore Docks; Duluth Municipal Stadium that would be renamed Wade Stadium; harbor; houses; baseball diamond; cars; Berwind Fuel Company at South Fiftieth Avenue West and NP Railway tracks; ore carriers; ore boats; iron ore docks; Thirty-ninth Avenue west; summer; trees
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The Oreck's clothing store opened in downtown Duluth at 18 West Superior Street in 1909 in the Hunter Block building as The National Store. It was owned and operated by Lena Polinsky Oreck (died 1928) and Gabriel Oreckovsky (died 1956) or G. A. Oreck and Sons Company. Lyle Oreck (died 1962), owned Oreck's Department Store or Oreck's women's apparel after his parents and served as president of the store from 1928-1948.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
St. Croix Avenue was parallel to South Lake Avenue. St. Croix Avenue was changed to South First Avenue East in 1912. This area has evolved over the decades. It was a neighborhood to various ethnic enclaves including Finnish and Jewish communities. It served people in transit in its many boarding houses. In 1885 a group of Jews living in the vicinity of St. Croix Avenue organized an Orthodox congregation. They bought a small house on St. Croix, converted it into a synagogue, and held services there for a few years. The Cleveland school was at St. Croix and Buchanan Street. The area became a red light district followed by removal of housing in the 1940s and 1950s followed by light industrial businesses taking root.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections