This is a view into Leif Erikson Park from London Road over the railroad tracks that separate the street from the park. Lakeshore Park was renamed Leif Erikson Park 1929.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The Northern Pacific railroad built this depot building in 1870. It has had various occupants. The address of this restaurant is 13308 One-hundred Thirty Third Avenue West.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
George Torgersen was of Norwegian descent. His spouse was Barbara Eggert Torgeson. He was interviewed at his home at Knife River, Minnesota, by interviewer Barbara W. Sommer.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Lorntsen, Conrad, tape 1, side2, narrator. He was of Norwegian descent. His spouse Fern Williams Lorntsen was present throughout the interview. Mr. Lorntsen is retired. He was interviewed at Mr. Lorntsen's home in Beaver Bay, Minnesota, by interviewer Barbara W. Sommer.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Milford Johnson Jr.'s spouse was Monica Wannebo Johnson. He is currently working at Reserve Mining Company. He was interviewed at Mr. Johnson's home in Two Harbors, Minnesota, by interviewer Barbara W. Sommer.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Ragnvald Sve was of Norwegian descent. His spouse was Ragnhild Jacobson Sve. They were married to each other for 51 year. He is one of several people presently allowed a license to fish trout in LakeSuperior. He was interviewed at the Sve home in Two Harbors, Minnesota, by interviewer Barbara W. Sommer.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
View from First Street in downtown Duluth. The 1910 Soo Line depot is at the far right at Sixth Avenue West and Superior Street. The newspaper announced in 1971, plans for a 13-story apartment building for the middle-income elderly on the site of the Soo Line Depot which was razed in August of 1972. The 1892 Union Depot at 506 West Michigan Street becomes the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center. A January 11, 1973, newspaper article announced the St. Louis County Board received $201,250 for historical preservation and restoration of Duluth's Union Depot. The Depot was purchased from Burlington Northern for $137,500. The county serves as landlord, which averts tax problems. On March 19, 1973, Don Shank turned the first shovel of dirt for LakeSuperiorMuseum of Transportation and Industry known by locals as the Train Museum.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The lift span is up as an ore boat of the Cleveland-Cliffs fleet approaches the canal. Pioneer Hall and the Northwest Passage skywalk link to downtown are complete. Gateway Towers and Lenox Place apartment high-rises and the new Duluth Public Library are visible. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' LakeSuperior Maritime Visitor Center, formerly called the Marine Museum, opened in 1973 and is seen near the north pier with Grandma's Saloon restaurant and its summertime tent visible marking the first two amenities of Canal Park that would develop into a tourist destination.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The parallel concrete piers jut out into the lake forming the canal leading to the harbor. Since its remodeling into a lift bridge in 1930, every vessel passes under the Aerial Lift Bridge's raised span. In this view the span is down, and traffic and people cross it as a roadbed. The South Pier is at the left, the North Pier is at the right. Minnesota Point's light sand beach draws residents and tourists in all seasons but especially throughout the summer months. The harbor is still the location of warehouses and coal docks. You can see the light road that is Skyline Parkway parallel to the horizon running the length of Duluth. The Civic Center is at the center of this shot. The St. Louis County Courthouse is in the middle with the Federal Building to the left of the courthouse, City Hall to the right, and the St. Louis County Jail to the left and set back from the courthouse. The Civic Center was designed by Daniel Burnham and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
West Duluth; Duluth Missabe and Northern Railroad; Foundation showing Sheet Piling; construction of number 6 dock; winter; snow; ore dock; tug boat; crane; railroad tracks; piling foundation; pile driver; June 21, 1917; photograph number 28
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
West Duluth; Duluth Missabe and Northern Railroad; number 6 Dock Construction; pile foundation; pile driving; workers; workmen; winter; snow; ore dock; LakeSuperior; photograph number 23; equipment; March 22, 1917
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Duluth Missabe and Northern Railroad; West Duluth Foundation showing Piers of no. 6 dock construction; steam equipment; workers; workmen; ore dock; railroad tracks; July 24, 1917; photograph number 33; forms; concrete structures; barges
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Wooden passenger packet steamer Winslow in a spectacular fire at Duluth's St. Paul and Duluth Railroad dock unloading after grounding at Lakeside the day before; a $55,000 casualty; owned by the Erie and Western Transportation Co in the LakeSuperior Transit Line at the end
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
View in winter of the Canal Park area at the base of the bridge with the Blatnik or High Bridge in the distance. The Canal Park Marine Museum and Visitor Center is joined to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Building. Both are visible just in front of the lift span in the middle of the photograph. There was a grand opening for the Museum on September 29, 1973. The brown, tall building at the right is the Paulucci building which is the common name for the Stone-Ordean-Wells building. It was built at 525 Lake Avenue south in 1915. The architect of the project was Frederick George German.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
head of lakes; harbor; depths; acres of state land; sailing directions; visibility of lights; streets; railroads; business district; Minnesota Point; Superior Bay; Superior Wisconsin; Superior Entry
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
These railroad tracks are parallel to LakeSuperior which is not visible at the far right. Superior Street is at the far left with an edge of the brick Minnesota Power electric company's substation building showing at Fifteenth Avenue West. Superwood Corporation hardboard manufacturers is at the right and appears to be in front of the Huron Portland Cement silos. Garfield is at about Sixteenth Avenue West behind you at you look at this shot. Superwood is at Fourteenth Avenue West and Waterfront and the Huron Portland cement silo at Ninth Avenue West and waterfront.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Mikado Number 1303 stands on the turntable at Endion Roundhouse located along the shore of LakeSuperior with Duluth and the aerial bridge in the background.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
View from the Duluth harbor to the hillside and up the shore. The $283,000 Canal Park Marine Museum's (dark building under the bridge) ground breaking was September 12, 1972, followed by a dedication event September 29, 1973. In 1973, it cost the Army Corps of Engineers $40,000 annually to operate the museum which has always been free to the public. The Museum Expansion dedication was July 5, 1979. To the left of the Marine Museum is the striped awning of Grandma's Restaurant (opened in 1976) but the rest of Canal Park is still in transition. It will become a tourist destination as all of the industrial business are sold and closed and replaced by shops, restaurants, hotels, and the Lake Walk. On the shore line at the far left is Leif Erikson park.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This view is from what is today the Corner of the Lake, but was the vicinity of Michigan Street and South Second Avenue East. It is now at the Lake Walk. The railroad tracks are gone. The wooden building is the edge of the LakeSuperior and Mississippi Railroad freight depot buildings. The concrete structure in the water is the remnant of the Whitney Brothers rock crushing company. Canal Park area was an industrial location until it began a slow transformation in the 1970s to the tourist destination familiar today.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Duluth and Iron Range railroad's ELLA G STONE tug moved train cars to Two Harbors from Duluth until 1886; she was named after railroad president's wife; schooner E M Peck; ore dock
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This aerial view is one of many taken by Wayne Gatlin. Canal Park (under the jet) is in its transformative stage moving from a light industrial site to a tourist destination. Grandma's Saloon and Grill has its striped canvas tent up with the ice cream railroad car in place. The double-decker red bus is at the intersection of Morse and South First Avenue East or Canal Park Drive. The first segment of the Lakewalk will be built in 1988. Duluth-born Mr. Gatlin enlisted in the aviation cadet program in 1942. Later he flew 55 combat missions for the 360th Fighter Group in England and downed an ME-262 jet fighter. In 1948 he joined the Texas Air National Guard but eventually transferred to Duluth, where he became operations officer for the 179th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Gatlin flew jet fighters while stationed at Duluth during the Korean War. He was the high individual scorer at the 1954, 1955 and 1956 National Air Guard gunnery meets. Gatlin served as commander of the Air Technician Detachment at Duluth, wing commander, group commander and finally chief of staff for the Minnesota Air National Guard. He logged over 6,700 military flying hours during his career. Gatlin studied photography over the years and his marvelous portraits of Guard aircraft have appeared in many publications and journals.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Aerial view of the Duluth Zoo at Fairmount Park at 71st Avenue West and Grand Avenue dates back to 1923 when West Duluth businessman Bert Onsgard received permission from the City to construct a pen for Billy, his pet deer. The Pittsburgh Steel Company donated a railroad car full of fencing to the project. By 1926 many animals were donated to the zoo by local citizens and businesses. Over the next twenty years, several buildings were constructed and the animal collection grew to include bears, elk, moose, hyenas, leopards and an elephant. During the Depression the WPA built several structures including the bear dens, wolf pens, monkey islands and the elephant house.
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
View in spring of the Aerial Bridge with the grain elevators and other harbor industrial and shipping facilities on Rice's Point. Cargill elevators B2 (far left) and B1 (built 1976) are the white structures at the top left. They are reached off of Garfield Avenue unless you approach by water. The Canal Park Marine Museum sits at the foot of the bridge's north tower. There was a ground breaking Sept 12, 1972 for the museum. It cost $283,000. The dedication was September 29, 1973. Mr. C. Patrick Labadie, native of Detroit, was hired as director in August, 1973. In 1973, it cost $40,000 annually to operate the museum. Entry had always been free to the public. The museum expansion dedication was July 5, 1979. The brown building at the right middle of the photograph is the Paulucci building, the common name for the Stone-Ordean-Wells building. It was built here, at 525 Lake Avenue South, in 1915. The architect of the project was Frederick George German.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This aerial view faces downtown Duluth, incorporating the near end of Minnesota Point and Canal Park. Minnesota Slip runs straight up through the center of the image, between Canal Park and the Duluth Arena Auditorium, and a Coast Guard cutter is docked in front of the Arena. Minnesota Slip is where the 600-foot long William A. Irvin ore boat museum will lay beginning in July 1986. The hillside rises up behind downtown, with Mesaba Avenue running diagonally up the left side of the hill. The rectangle and three dots parallel to the piers of the canal are the remnants of the Whitney Brothers rock crushing enterprise. The lift span of the bridge is up as a ship moves out of the harbor. At the center in the bottom portion of the image is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Duluth Vessel Yard at Ninth Street and Minnesota Avenue that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in October 1995. It was a maintenance, storage, mooring facility established in 1904, supporting dredging and maintenance of the Duluth shipping harbor.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Winter view of the remnants of the Whitney Brothers rock crushing business that stand in LakeSuperior off the shore at Canal Park near the Aerial lift bridge. William A. Whitney and E. Harvey Whitney of Superior, Wisconsin, had a sand and gravel processing business. The largest concrete form was the dredging or crushing building. The structure was built in 1919. A tunnel ran from the building to Minnesota 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. There was also a tug the WILLIAM A. WHITNEY.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Wooden 298 foot steamer ALEX NIMICK built 1890 crashed and disintegrated September 20, 1907; other vessels at wooden ore dock; railroad cars on tracks pass under opening in dock
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The Duluth Missabe and Iron Range ore docks are the two reddish brown linear structures in the foreground. Ore boats are pulled between the docks by tugboats. Railroad cars loaded with ore or taconite pellets move along the railroad tracks on the top or the length of the dock. A chute or steel pocket beneath the tracks is lowered to the open cargo hatch and a door at the bottom of the pocket opens, allowing the pellets to run into the ore boat that moored parallel to the dock. Four hours is typical for loading ore. Loading is the responsibility of the First Mate. It is important to load the ore in a proper sequence to avoid over stressing the boat unevenly. Each chute (or drop of pellets) is about 20 tons.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This view is from just below First Street looking down Second Avenue West. Glass Block department store and the Sellwood building are on the corners of Superior Street and Second Avenue West. Railroad Street and ice filled slips are between downtown and the bridge. Minnesota Point extends beyond the bridge at the top of the image. Glass Block was built in 1893 and three floors added in 1902. It closed in 1981. The Sellwood was built in 1908 and still stands.
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
View of West Duluth facing downtown Duluth and LakeSuperior. The image includes the Duluth Missabe and Iron Range railroad ore docks, grain elevators on Rice's Point, the Aerial Lift Bridge, Minnesota Point, and LakeSuperior. Wade Stadium is visible in the center of the picture to the left of the ore docks, with Wheeler Field, 3501 Grand Avenue, to the left of the stadium. Denfeld High School, 4405 West Fourth Street, is in the center of the bottom portion of the image with the West Junior High below it at the southwest corner of North Central Avenue and West Sixth Street. The Interstate Bridge connects Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin at Rice's Point. The Duluth Missabe and Iron Range railroad tracks are at the lower left, continuing to the ore docks where three vessels are waiting to be loaded with ore.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections