This post card was mailed in 1906, but the image is from an earlier year. In the 1890s commercial fishing on Lake Superior was feeding Duluth and the entire Midwest with major operators: A. Booth and Sons (whose sign is visible at the left), Lake Superior Fish Company, H. Christiansen and Sons.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
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
The post card caption says The Aerial Bridge, Span 393 feet 9 inches, 135 feet high from water line. Cost $100,000. This post card illustration is of a view from the waterfront. At the right is the South Breakwater Inner Light Tower. Houses on Minnesota Point are at the far right. Engineer C.A.P. Turner, of the Gillette-Herzog Manufacturing Company of Minneapolis, designed the Ferry Bridge with Suspended Car Transfer in February 1901, meeting federal specifications. Bids were opened March 25, 1901, but only one was received. The Duluth Canal Bridge Company was awarded the contract but abandoned the work. In February, 1904, the Modern Steel Structural Company of Waukesha, Wisconsin was issued a contract. Work began July 20, 1904.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The caption of this post card says Clear span, 400 feet; clear height, 136 feet; total height above water, 186 feet. This view shows the waterfront when it was warehouses and wharves, docks, railroad freight sheds and slips. This view is probably from Skyline boulevard which, at this time, would have been called Rogers' Boulevard. William Rogers was the first parks department commissioner. In December 1959 the Duluth City Council and Mayor E. Clifford Bork changed the name of Rogers parkway and Skyline Boulevard to Skyline Parkway.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The caption of this post card says The Aerial Bridge, Span 393 feet 9 inches, 135 feet high from water line. Cost $100,000. Entrance to Duluth-Superior Harbor. The white building at the left is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Building constructed in 1906.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The post card caption says The Aerial Bridge, Span 393 feet 9 inches, 135 feet high from water line. Cost $100,000. This post card illustration is of a view from the Duluth harbor with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Building at the left and the South Breakwater Inner Light Tower at the right. Houses on Minnesota Point are at the far right. Engineer C.A.P. Turner, of the Gillette-Herzog Manufacturing Company of Minneapolis, designed the Ferry Bridge with Suspended Car Transfer in February 1901, meeting federal specifications. Bids were opened March 25, 1901, but only one was received. The Duluth Canal Bridge Company was awarded the contract but abandoned the work. In February, 1904, the Modern Steel Structural Company of Waukesha, Wisconsin was issued a contract. Work began July 20, 1904. The aerial bridge transporter or gondola or transfer car roadway was 17 feet by 50 feet with sidewalks seven feet by 50 feet; the cabins were 30 feet long.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Spectators watch log rollers in the bay. The Duluth Boat Club was organized July 10, 1886. The original building was built in 1891 at the foot of Seventh Avenue West and the bay front. This, the second facility, was built in 1906 at 1000 Minnesota Avenue on the harbor side. This was a social center of Duluth but you did have to buy a membership. It had nearly 200 rowboats, canoes, and a flotilla of sailboats. Duluth rowers won 20 national championships between 1911 and 1923, as well as hosting the national races in 1916. The club dissolved in 1926 due to flagging interest and debt.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The information on this post card says Crowd leaving bridge; The Aerial Bridge; Miniature Train, White City. Joyland White City was the name of the amusement park at the end of Minnesota Point at Oatka Park. It was named White City based upon the buildings constructed at the recently experienced World's Fair where buildings were constructed using "white" building materials. There were rides and a pavilion for performances, dances and music. White City was short lived, about 1905-1911. The pavilion remained and the location reverted to the prior name of Oatka Park. The small train was moved to the Duluth zoo when the last features of the amusement park were dismantled in the 1950s. This post card was mailed in July 1907.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Passenger steamer North American of the Georgian Bay Line is steaming out of Duluth harbor leaving Duluth. There were many passenger ships and companies used similar names. This vessel had a partner named the South American; both were built in 1913. The Great Lakes is one of the oldest, yet one of the newest cruise destinations. Cruises were being taken as early as 1842, yet the industry had almost disappeared 100 years later. Railroads bought and built steamship lines to compliment railroad services. Some activity continued into the 1960s, but following the departure of the South American in 1966, cruising effectively ceased for thirty years. Houses on Minnesota Point are at the left. The Aerial Bridge gondola or basket transporter is visible behind the stern. These lamp posts on the piers remained until about 1955. This is a print made from a broken glass plate negative: the bottom right corner is missing (black). The photographer's negative number is cut off, only the beginning of his name shows "McK."
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
Sailboat racing on the harbor. The Duluth Boat Club was organized July 10, 1886. The original building was built in 1891 at the foot of Seventh Avenue West and the bay front. This, the second facility, was built in 1906 at 1000 Minnesota Avenue on the harbor side.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Sailboat racing on the harbor. The Duluth Boat Club was organized July 10, 1886. The original building was built in 1891 at the foot of Seventh Avenue West and the bay front. This, the second facility, was built in 1906 at 1000 Minnesota Avenue on the harbor side.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Sailboat racing on the harbor with hundreds of spectators on hand. The Duluth Boat Club was organized July 10, 1886. The original building was built in 1891 at the foot of Seventh Avenue West and the bay front. This, the second facility, was built in 1906 at 1000 Minnesota Avenue on the harbor side. This was a social center of Duluth but you did have to buy a membership. It had nearly 200 rowboats, canoes, and a flotilla of sailboats. Duluth rowers won 20 national championships between 1911 and 1923, as well as hosting the national races in 1916. The club dissolved in 1926 due to flagging interest and debt.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Every student in Duluth learned about the aerial bridge from family or teachers. This table-top model in clay is typical in demonstrating how central to children and families the structure and impact of the bridge was and is to residents of Duluth.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Every student in Duluth learned about the Aerial Bridge from family or teachers. This table-top model in clay is typical in demonstrating how central to children and families the structure and impact of the bridge was and is to residents of Duluth.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Marshall-Wells Hardware merchandise is loaded and ready for delivery to various railroad lines for transport. The first horse-drawn sleigh will take the orders packed into it to the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha depot. The truck behind the sleigh is destined for the Soo Line depot. The next in line will be shipped on the Great Northern railway and the one after that will go to the Northern Pacific. The Union Depot served seven railroads including the GN and NP. It still stands as the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center. All of the other depots are gone. The Marshall-Wells Company started in 1886 as Chapin and Wells Company a wholesale hardware business. Albert Morley Marshall, son of Seth, bought controlling interest in 1893 and changed the name to Marshall-Wells Company. The company grew to include 14 wholesale offices throughout the northwestern U.S. and Canada. In 1955 Ambrook Industries Inc. of New York bought controlling interest. Kelley-How-Thomson and Marshall-Wells merged January 1, 1958. Kelley-How-Thomson had been a subsidiary of Marshall-Wells since 1955 when Ambrook bought Marshall-Wells and reorganized. The Coast-to-Coast Stores bought the Duluth division of Marshall-Wells-Kelley-How-Thomson Company in 1958, which ended the Duluth firm's operation. Also in the image are the People's Hotel 246 Lake Avenue South, and the Lyceum Theater billboard.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Most photographs of downtown Duluth will also capture the Aerial Bridge, and so it is with this image of Superior Street at Fifth Avenue West. The Spalding hotel was completed in June 1889. It was razed in the summer of 1963 along with many other buildings in the Gateway Renewal Project. The total cost of razing Gateway buildings was $258,000, including demolition of the Spalding hotel at the cost of $43,500.
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 drawing identifies wind forces and their effects on the physical structure. Notes are included on this drawing for example: "Stresses in lower sections of tension diagonals equal or smaller than top sections, but same riveting to be used in detail." The drawing includes a key for live load, dead load, impact, wind at 150 pounds per linear foot, wind stress due to traveler, equivalent to live load. The drawing shows top and bottom laterals. Total weight of the carrier and car is given as 240,000 pounds. The scale is given as 20 feet equaling one inch. Drawing H5421, Sheet 3.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Detailed drawing of four parts of the Aerial Bridge. The end view is a drawing of a tower; part side elevation is of half of the Aerial Bridge with the suspended car transfer. The third drawing is called Section A-A and depicts a tower without the cross structures drawn in. The last drawing is called Section B-B, which is a top down view of one of the towers resting on its footings. All of these drawings have dimensions. The part side elevation includes a very small drawing of the side of the gondola car. The end view includes the phrase "car approaches built by city." The finials are shown on three of the four drawings. Drawing H5421, Sheet 2.
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
Hillside housing stock built with a rock outcrop in the backyard; A Master Bread billboard is at the top of the image. The Zinsmaster family opened a bakery called Zinsmaster Hol-Ry Company in Duluth in 1931. Master Bread was one of their brands. The structure that looks like it is framed by the Aerial Lift Bridge is the Huron Portland Cement silo that later became LaFarge Cement. It still stands on the Duluth waterfront. The white trimmed brick structure at the top right is 1515 West Superior Street, the Duluth Gospel Tabernacle building. The building to the right but further east on Superior Street with the arched window is a Minnesota Power station and garage at about Fourteenth Avenue West and Superior Street.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections