This aerial view is one of many taken by Wayne Gatlin. The shape of Minnesota Point and the harbor are clear. 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
View of the harbor from above, possibly from Skyline Drive. The long, low Northern Pacific Railroad freight sheds are between Minnesota and Industrial slips. A laker is in Minnesota Slip. The coal dock area will be the construction site for the Duluth Arena Auditorium in 1963. Hearding Island is off Minnesota Point in the harbor. The island is the uninhabited site that has been called Bird Island by Park Point residents and Harbor Island by Duluth Bird Club members. The name Hearding Island is for William Hellins Hearding (England, 1826-1893, Milwaukee) who surveyed the Duluth-Superior harbor in 1861 as assigned by Captain (later a general in the Civil War) George C. Meade. The survey, completed in a little over two months, included the St. Louis River up to Fond du Lac, and the bay including Minnesota Point and the mouth of the Nemadji River. Rice's Point is at the middle left of the image showing a number of grain elevators.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The aerial lift bridge is owned and operated by the City of Duluth on Congressional permit. The Ship Canal and grounds are under the authority of the Lake Superior Area Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Minnesota Point, also called Park Point, is a well-known Duluth neighborhood that has a population of about 1,500; it is a major year-round recreational area with beaches and an airport. You can see the light edge of the sand beach parallel to the edge of the photograph. Minnesota Point is located at the western tip of Lake Superior, at the mouth of its largest tributary, the St. Louis River. Minnesota Point, seven miles long and averaging 500 feet wide, is geologically part of a continuous, sandy, bay mouth bar that stretches between Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin. The middle of the bar is submerged, creating the natural entry that separates Minnesota Point on the northwest from Wisconsin Point on the southeast. This bar was formed by two processes: primarily by sands carried from the South Shore and deposited by lake currents, and secondarily by sediment deposited by the St. Louis and Nemadji rivers. There are erosion and flood problems on the two sides of Minnesota Point. Most of the Minnesotas Lake Superior shore consists of rock and red clay. The vast sandy beach of Minnesota Point is not common. Shifts in dunes and breaks in dune line can occur in just a few hours. If a blow hole forms in a dune line, up to 3,000 cubic feet of sand can shift during a single storm. Vegetation can help prevent dune erosion. Dunes are extremely important in controlling wind erosion on Minnesota Point. To protect the dunes, it is essential to control pedestrian traffic and prohibit the use of vehicles. If it is necessary to cross dunes, the use of designated trails with boardwalks or bark mulch can minimize damage.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The aerial lift bridge is owned and operated by the City of Duluth on Congressional permit. The Ship Canal and grounds are under the authority of the Lake Superior Area Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Minnesota Point, also called Park Point, is a well-known Duluth neighborhood that has a population of about 1,500; it is a major year-round recreational area with beaches and an airport. You can see the light edge of the sand beach parallel to the edge of the photograph. Minnesota Point is located at the western tip of Lake Superior, at the mouth of its largest tributary, the St. Louis River. Minnesota Point, seven miles long and averaging 500 feet wide, is geologically part of a continuous, sandy, bay mouth bar that stretches between Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin. The middle of the bar is submerged, creating the natural entry that separates Minnesota Point on the northwest from Wisconsin Point on the southeast. This bar was formed by two processes: primarily by sands carried from the South Shore and deposited by lake currents, and secondarily by sediment deposited by the St. Louis and Nemadji rivers. There are erosion and flood problems on the two sides of Minnesota Point. Most of the Minnesotas Lake Superior shore consists of rock and red clay. The vast sandy beach of Minnesota Point is not common. Shifts in dunes and breaks in dune line can occur in just a few hours. If a blow hole forms in a dune line, up to 3,000 cubic feet of sand can shift during a single storm. Vegetation can help prevent dune erosion. Dunes are extremely important in controlling wind erosion on Minnesota Point. To protect the dunes, it is essential to control pedestrian traffic and prohibit the use of vehicles. If it is necessary to cross dunes, the use of designated trails with boardwalks or bark mulch can minimize damage.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Layout of Duluth; Town of Oneota Plat 1865; sawmill; creeks; Rice's Point; Superior Bay; meandered island; Indian graves; Indian camp; 5th west to Lake avenues; claim shanty; Luce's Dock Company; land office; Town of Portland Platted 1855; Washington Avenue; Vermilion Trail; Old Trading Post; Minnesota Point; Pine Street; floating island; tower; Lake Superior.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This map of Duluth and the surrounding area as of 1865 was drawn by R.E. Carey based on old records and memoirs. The accompanying booklet, also by Carey, describes historical sites in Duluth, which are number coded on the map. Sites include early houses, a sawmill, a schoolhouse, an early brewery, the Vermilion Trail, and a stone quarry.
This photograph by Paul B. Gaylord from the 1880s or early 1890s looks to the south from Duluth's hillside to Rice's Point and shows the 1871 railroad roundhouse to the east of Garfield Avenue and the steeple of Second Presbyterian Church at 1515 West Superior Street.
lake survey chart west-end of Fond du lace; Lake Superior; shoreline; river outline; Superior Bay; St. Louis Bay; Bay of Allouez; Superior Entry; Oneota; Spirit Lake; Rice's Point; Superior City
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections