Duluth Antenna Farm

There was this recently posted: 

WDSM: Queen of the Towers

I tried to find some 1950s antenna farm pictures but did not succeed. But in the process, I learned four pieces of historical Duluth antenna information that met my own arbitrary interest threshold for sharing in a comment.

1. The Wikipedia page “List of catastrophic collapses of broadcast masts and towers” contains an entry for the collapse of Duluth’s WDIO-TV tower on March 23, 1991. A video showing the aftermath is on YouTube.

2. WDIO: The W for being East of the Mississippi; the D for Duluth; and the IO for 10 (ten), the channel number. I feel like I could have figured that out myself, but did not.

3. At the end of the 1960s, there was a radio tower rather inconveniently located in the middle of the south pier of the lift bridge.
  

And then the fourth and perhaps best historical Duluth antenna fact. If you click on the location of the KQDS-TV transmitter on Google maps, you get this composite image, which might surpass any of my recent attempts at AI generated art. Although added recently, I’m considering this historical information because I’m assuming that the DeLorean is set for the past and about to hit 88.8 as it flies over the hill. Maybe they’ll bring back some early pictures of the antenna farm but it looks like they are just using the time machine for ice fishing.
  

Thanks for the input. I’ve always been mesmerized by all the towers on the hill (along with the Parkland WEBC towers) since I was a kid. I spent 16 years in broadcasting (more than 20 years ago now), and am interested in the history of the Duluth antenna farm. Outside of the KDAL-TV tower construction photos from 1953-54 which I found on the web years ago, it’s been hard to find any more pics.

My brother has about 4 to 7 slides my dad took of the first antennas. He sold TVs I remember our whole family drove there with him. I need to get them from my brother and then share them!

Those slides would be great to see!