Not intending to hijack this thread but in addition to the original question, does anybody know the history of the big building down the trail from the cabin that has all of the spray paint on it? Also, does anybody know how that water pumping station functions? Does water really get sent all the way to Cloquet from there?

I've heard the empty concrete block building with the graffiti referred to as the "old buoy building" -- apparently the Coast Guard used to store buoys in it. 

I also have always been curious if lake water gets pumped all the way to Cloquet.

I believe the cabin was once a privately-owned getaway and the land is now owned by the state. I don't think it has quite the mythological status it has developed; it was just someone's lake cabin.

Well, brett, looks like Paul saved me some typing--thank goodness he's a very nice man, and a well informed Duluth citizen.

Some say the Lakeside/New London "Dry" thing came about not only out of the temperance movement, but also because essentially two types of folks settled those neighborhoods: the second-tier rich (merchants, doctors, etc.)--mostly English Protestants--and the servant class--mostly Irish Catholic--who served them and those in the East End/Congdon Park mansions. Supposedly the community leaders didn't want it to be too easy for their Irish Catholic servants to access booze and miss work. Of course, these things were not discussed in polite society, so finding any records to support a theory such as this is likely impossible.

Bret: cool beans. Please email me at tonyd[at]x-communication.org

American temperance and prohibition movements had been intertwined with Protestantism and nativist sentiments from their very beginnings--hence it's hard to believe that "dry" Lakeside wasn't tied in with the apparent wave of hysterical anti-Catholicism that was cresting in Duluth in 1893 when Lakeside was annexed.  That was the year that candidates from the American Protective Association, a group which held that a vast Papist plot would culminate in a worldwide anti-Protestant pogrom on St. Ignatius Day, 1893 [1] swept the election for Duluth city offices (with the exception of city treasurer, where the incumbent ran unopposed).

[1] "When the massacre did not happen," Richard Hudelson and Carol Ross note, "the APA blamed it on the trickery of the Jesuits, who hoped to lull the Protestants into a false sense of security."  (By the Ore Docks, 32-33.

The buildings of concrete near the bitter end were built by the U S Army Corps of Engineers to assist them in the construction of the Piers and Break-wall, one one each side of the Superior entry to the harbor.  The building in back used to contain all the items stored to work on boats, which were hauled in to the front building on railway tracks and then repaired there before re-launch.  The Derrick Barge Coleman was used to carry rock and place it carefully so as to prevent large waves from dislodging them.  I was a cook on the Dredge Gaillord in the 1970s and that was used to maintain depth down to 28' in Duluth and other harbors.

Hey, Tony... the acetylene stored at the Depot had nothing to do with batteries... it was burned for illumination in the new automated lighthouses and maybe some bouys. 

I lived and worked at Raspberry Island Lighthouse in the Apostles (and portrayed a keeper's wife from 1923). My "husband" was never around, because he was always supposedly over checking the automated Sand Island light, which had been switched over to acetylene in the early 20's, I believe. More info on the contemporary technology can be found in Professor H.G. Söderbaum's 1912 presentation speech for the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Thanks, GTR!

Love the history discussion! Any recommendations on great books on Duluth history, so I can research more of this great stuff?

Thanks for the X-comm plug, Paul!

I just started "Ore Docks." fascinating so far, especially the tracking of immigration of ethnic groups and the religion (or complete lack-there-of) and politics they brought to Duluth.

And there's more coming: Maryanne Norton and I are currently working on "Lost Duluth" about the man-made buildings and landmarks that are gone (should be out Spring 2011), Mark Ryan and Nancy Nelson are hard at work on a history of Duluth Parks we hope to release in 2012, and HBH is working on TWO books for X-comm that should prove both fun and fascinating.

Oh, and Arnold Alanen's recent Morgan Park: Duluth, U.S. Steel, and the forging of a company town is also fascinating.  [There's an article  by Alanen on Morgan Park in the Sketches of the Past book too.]

The end of Park Point once had a cluster of cabins possibly used by artists for inexpensive housing during the thirties...leftover summer cabins from an earlier era. Bernie Quick original creator of the Grand Marais Art Colony once lived there and went on to national recognition but seems to be forgotten here almost?

The origins of Duluth began in the Pine Forest at the end of Park Point. 

The end of the Point should be recognized with appropriate historic preservation status... and, all inclusive, established recognition with historic sense of place, for the rare Pine Forest also. All should be clarified as land heritage never to be destroyed or ever compromised any more than the dunes community has already.
Will that happen? I doubt it. Not when developers grow like poison ivy on the Point.

HI!  I know that the large concrete building past the old lighthouse on Park Point has the letters USLHB Depot(United States Lake Head Basin or Boathouse?) in the front, and was once used by the Coast Guard, as the sign says as you enter by the airport. It may have been more than that. The remains of an old wooden dock lie in the water directy in front of the building.  As my husband and I were scouting in the woods just past it (I am a local history "Hunter") we discovered an old brick and cement foundation, years old.  Possibly George Stuntz's?  He was the first settler to Duluth in around 1860.  It is hidden , but if you look around you'll see it. Very historic piece of land, and I agree in making it a special designated area as such!  Keep the historical fires burning!

It's all so interesting!  I know the old warehouse is pretty old.  Is there a chance he could've had it built..and the dock served his purposes being built directly in line with it?  I know many people lived down there at one time or another.  It's so intriguing to speculate about all of it.   Your books are awesome, Tony....thanks for all the great info.  I'm always out in the woods looking for signs of the past.  Chuck Frederick wrote an article on my "passion" in 2008...and I'm even crazier now!   Love this blog.

Sandy, thanks for the link to Terry Pepper's site.  GREAT FACTS!  It's good to know these things about the glorious history of Duluth and surrounding areas.  I've been doing some "hands-on" digging near old carriage roads in Lester Park... Oriental Road, Graves Road, and Benson Road show signs of former inhabitants.  Some excellent old bottles and crockery, etc.  Came across a stone marker in the woods. At first I thought it was a grave, but now realize it probably was a property or survery marker from way back.  Very cool. If anyone is interested, email me at [email protected].  I go all over and try to find obscure places, and there is always something new waiting around the bend!

I found these bits of information about the Pine Knot cabin in the book to which I referred in my previous post.

Pine Knot cabin was constructed as was mentioned, in 1900. The original owner was then mayor of Superior Charles O'Hehir. The Pollock family bought the cabin in 1927. The cabin was on land leased by Superior Water, light and Power. When the lease came due on the land in 1996, their right to be there was threatened. Minnesota Power, who is parent to Superior Water, Light & Power, looked over historical data the Pollocks had collected and intervened to allow them to lease the property still. In 1999, the Pine Knot cabin was a gift to the City of Duluth by the Pollock family. At that time, the City was hoping to be able to move the structure to the Recreation Center and open it as an interpretive center. Obviously, there were difficulties with this idea because the cabin is still there facing the bay.

Just decided to look online today and see if there was anything written about our beloved Pine Knot cabin of Park Point.  What a surprise to see the interest.  We haven't been back to Duluth in over 12 years to see what shape she is in.  But I did look at Zillow.com and saw her by satellite photos.

That place was a family cabin for nearly 70 years, and is about 110 years old now.  I still have the original water pitcher pump and photos from the the 1920s.  I spent so many wonderful summer vacations there.

I am surprised there is no talk of the Peabody ferry that crossed the harbor from Superior to the point.  Most of the folks who had cabins on Park Point came from Superior. Coming to the point was difficult as public transportation ended at the turnaround at 43rd street.  The rest of the way was on foot.  Not easy.

There is so much history there and that is why I am so impressed people are talking about it.  The more you know, the more you will fight to save the 200-year-old pine forest, the lighthouse built in 1858, and the remnants of a light station.  Here is one for you; did you know the original lighthouse home is still on Park Point?  It was moved years ago and is on Minnesota Avenue.  

If you have any questions, I am willing to tell you what I know, having been part of the point since I was a little guy in the 1950s.

Please do what you can to save Pine Knot.  It was never added onto during the years we owned it.  I have a picture of my dad's family sitting 4 feet from the front porch with their feet in the bay.  You see, the bay was dredged during the depression and that is why all the front yard there.  Pine Knot used to be just a few feet from the bay.

Don't get me started.  I'll be interested in comments.

I am talking about a house that sat next to the big cement US Lighthouse building.  It was located right next to the brick outhouse that still stands in the original location.  I was told that this "house" was the keeper's cottage.
 
As to it's current location:  It's on the bay side of Minnesota Avenue just north of the S. Lake Avenue curve.  If I was there, I would recognize it by where the bathroom "addition" is located.  If you're standing on Minnesota Avenue and looking at the single-story house, the bathroom "addition" would be on the left side of the house.
 
Somewhere in storage, I have a photo of the place.  Can't find it, but will keep looking.

Does anyone know if there has been a book published on the history of Lakeside yet? I know someone was in the process of starting one a few years back.

The walking tour pamphlet can be found here: 

Lakeside & Lester Park Self-guided Walking Tour (PDF)

I goofed on the trunk tag it jhp. I have since found a picture of the peabody boathouse with a building behind it please send me a copy of the cabin.

The cabin was torn down 12-1-2010.

One condition of that area of Park Point becoming a SNA involved removing the Pine Knot Cabin(no man-made structures allowed). 

Very little mention is made of the designation as an SNA because of the other rules that apply to these areas - check out the DNR website for more information.

Sad to hear it was destroyed - too bad it couldn't have been left as a testament to the many cabins in the area and the long history of human use of Minnesota Point.

Ed Pollock is my mother-in-law's cousin. I was sad to leave the cabin for my first and last time in 1999. If it could have stayed in the family, you can bet my wife and our family would be using it quite often for a "getaway" as we love Duluth. So sad to see it gone.

My grandmother was a McMannus from Superior. They owned a cabin next to the Pollocks. As a boy in the early 1950s I spent many wonderful summer days under the tall pines and foggy mornings on Park Point. I was wondering if the Pollocks would have any pictures of my family's cabin. I have a few and one even has part of your place in the background.

It doesn't seem as though the question on the pumping station has been answered, so here it is: Yes. All the way to Cloquet, and Superior, too.

Most of the first mile of the trail is along the gravel road accessing the two pumping stations which supply Lake Superior water to the town of Cloquet and the City of Superior.

From the "Park Point Trail" page on duluthmn.gov.