Cork1, I'm guessing the Stevens Six is the six-cylinder model from Stevens-Duryea, which made cars in Massachusetts in the first quarter of the last century.

Cork, I forgot to mention: One took Garfield Ave to the Interstate Bridge (a portion of which also remains as a fishing dock, but in Duluth), and that made the intersection of Garfield, Superior St., and Piedmont Ave. the busiest in town until the 1960s. The Garfield News (that little yellow art deco building on the corner, with the hexagonal window) was one of the most popular businesses in town until that bridge closed.

And yes, ferries were used before any bridges were built. The Wheeler family ran an early service in the late 1860s/1870s, and Tom Wheeler has suggested to me it may have been one or two of his ancestors who tried to blow up the dike built between MN Point and Rice's Point in 1871 as part of Superior's lawsuit(s) to have the Duluth Ship Canal filled in. The dike literally blocked traffic between the two cities, which hurt the Wheeler's business!

And I believe there was a streetcar line that crossed the Bay somehow--I have photos of it, but haven't gotten to the research yet to pin down any specifics.

lol.  Just kidding about the booze and filth.  But as long as we're discussing it, the younger bar patrons still seem to prefer Superior, since the bars are clustered together, their friends often smoke (although that is ending in WI), there are big, popular beer-soaked places to dance, and the drinks are generally cheaper.  And they like the late night drunk n' greasy food in Superior.  

Can an area of downtown Duluth beat Superior on the magical combination of all these items so important to young bar hoppers?

So Douglas county used slave labor to drive down wages?  Well, I'm not surprised as this is all too common, but it was striking to see the self-righteous John Morrison brag about the intent so openly.  I wonder if he was later picked up one night as a "filthy solicitor"?  The more things change the more they stay the same!

Oh yeah, thanks for the bridge info as well, history nerds. I have to assume they were riding horses across those bridges, or taking livery cab rides, right?

This article is really interesting because it neatly summarizes the core ideals of the Progressive movement.  The Ripsaw was a Progressive paper, not progressive literally, but part of the Progressive movement.  By using alcohol as it's hook, it draws readers into learning about some other core Progressive ideals such as labor rights, gov't corruption, and reforming criminal punishment.  These weren't the most popular views at the time around here.  Don't forget a couple of years later a Finnish labor leader was lynched for his connections to communism.  With a war in Europe and a revolution in Russia, labor rights was a touchy subject.  Notice how the topic is wrapped in the more family friendly guise of Prohibition.  Good propaganda.

Next, in all fairness to Superior, the vice and immoral stuff was confined to a rather small area.  The city relied on young workers and sailors for it's economy.  This wasn't a farming town with deep roots.  This was still a young community that needed a constant supply of cheap labor.  That labor mainly came from young, single men who did not have families.  They needed the support system the taverns supplied for food, lodging, entertainment, postal services, etc.  Notice where the bars are located on Tower and follow Tower all the way north past the Cedar Lounge.  You arrive right at the docks.  The family neigborhoods...the BP, EE, Allouez, South Superior, have a few local places, but not a thick concentration like the north end of Tower.

I think this should tell us something about Superior.  The community lines were strictly drawn between workers frequenting the bar district and the larger, permanent community that sprouted around it.  I think the vice problems were tolerated more as a necessary evil to attract and accomodate a work force, but not something that was systematic to the culture of Superior as a whole.  The hook of alcohol is really being used to discuss other Progressive ideas that may not have been as accepted by the larger population.

Cool article Paul.

You guys should write a book! BTW, Barrett, did you take the pic of the fishing pier you posted? It's gorgeous.

Stephens Six / Stephens Salient Six: http://www.genealogytrails.com/ill/stephenson/stephens.html

[img]http://www.kenmcgeeautobooks.com/images/11-13-2009IMG_0843.jpg[/img]

My grandma still talks about crossing from Superior to Duluth on the toll bridge in the...well, I'm not sure if her stories date to the 40s/50s or a little sooner than that?  Or later? In those days, most people living over by Ashland only went to Duluth maybe once a year (if they went at all)--in her case, she & my grandpa would drive there with a couple from the neighboring farm, and when they approached the bridge, they'd pull over and have the wives get in the trunk of the car so they wouldn't have to pay as much to cross the bridge.  That's how she tells it, anyway.