This is the West Duluth plant of the Zenith Furnace Company. West Duluth is a neighborhood of Duluth. Captain August B. Wolvin bought the aging blast furnace at this Fifty-seventh Avenue West location, modernized it and organized Zenith Furnace to operate it. It produced pig iron. It was incorporated in 1902. The plant produced 175 tons of product in 24 hours. In one month in 1916, a record of 310 tons of pig iron was produced in 24 hours. The site covers 80 acres and includes a coal dock. Coal gas, ammonia, and coal tar are by-products. It employed 350 men with a payroll of $35,000 a month in 1916.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Zenith Furnace Company opened in 1902. This complex eventually included a blast furnace, a coal dock, and sixty-five coke ovens located on eighty acres of land along St. Louis Bay. The company produced pig iron, was active in the wholesale coal trade, and sold by-products such as ammonia gas, coal gas, and coal tar. Later purchased by Interlake Iron Corporation, the facility served as the northernmost merchant of pig iron plant in the United States until it closed permanently in 1962.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Zenith restaurant business and workers; identified workers; 529 west Superior street; manager Archie Gish in white; meals ten cents; signs in window for Forepaugh and Sells circus in July
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Construction of the Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Power Plant dam began in this area of the Zumbro River in 1917. The structure was designed by noted hydroelectric engineer, Hugh Lincoln Cooper. The dam, completed in 1919, is owned by Rochester Public Utilities.