That photo was indeed shot at Observation Park. It's from 2002, the only year that the Homegrown Kickball Classic was played there. But Observation Park is not in West Duluth. It's in the Central Hillside.
This year, it ended up being sunny and warm for kickball at Chester Bowl. When we showed up, however, there was still snow on the field.
Weather aside, I have a small point of contention here. Once again, we need Tony D or some such figure to referee this ... the neighborhood not the kickball game.
As Observation Park is West of Mesaba Avenue, and below 3rd street, it is definitely not Central Hillside. But I'm not sure what you would call that neighborhood definitively. I would call it West Hillside, (or possibly Goat Hill, although it's not quite on Goat Hill and I'm not sure that's even a neighborhood.) Touchdown calls it West End and Lundgren says Central Hillside.
Who's right?
Observation Hill is a sub-neighborhood of the Central Hillside.
Yes, Duluth has sub-neighborhoods. The ones with cool names, like Goat Hill (not to be confused with Observation Hill) tend to be considered their own little neighborhoods. Which I suppose is fine.
The ones with weak names are barely recognized. For example, almost no one says they live in Fairmont, Fremont, Irving, Spirit Valley, Cody, Ramsey, Denfeld or Oneota. They all say they live in West Duluth.
Anyway, yeah, it's probably time for a definitive post on this subject, complete with map.
Nooooooo!
This topic is like an asparagus sandwich: horrible, yet fascinating. On one hand, who really cares? On the other hand, everyone seems to care.
So, as pertains to Observation Park, I will give you the DEFINITIVE answer (because I am the expert and final authority on the matter:
Observation Park is located in the sub-sub-neighborhood commonly known as "Southeast Observation Hill", which is a sub-neighborhood of West-Central Central Hillside, which is located in the neighborhood commonly known as Stinky Town.
Yeah, I'm not really sure what the exact boundaries would be for Goat Hill and Observation Hill.
Like Wildgoose noted, Mesaba Avenue must be the eastern border of Observation Hill. I'd say Central High School is the northern border, but the school itself is in Duluth Heights (even though many might consider the school to be in Central Hillside). I'd say the eastern border would be Enger Park -- so it's a jagged border that runs down Observation Road, 11th Avenue West, 13th Avenue West, etc. (Point of Rocks is West End.) Southern border would be I-35.
Again, I'm basically making this up -- I've never seen a map that specifically states where Observation Hill's boundaries would be -- but I think my logic is sound. Basically, it's the entire western half of the Central Hillside, divided at Mesabe Avenue, but not including the little section southeast of I-35.
7 Comments
Touchdown Johnson
about 15 years agoPaul Lundgren
about 15 years agoThat photo was indeed shot at Observation Park. It's from 2002, the only year that the Homegrown Kickball Classic was played there. But Observation Park is not in West Duluth. It's in the Central Hillside. This year, it ended up being sunny and warm for kickball at Chester Bowl. When we showed up, however, there was still snow on the field.
wildgoose
about 15 years agoPaul Lundgren
about 15 years agovicariously
about 15 years agomevdev
about 15 years agoPaul Lundgren
about 15 years ago