Paul Lundgren Posts

Postcard from the Palladio Building

Mar 02, 2022 No Comments

This undated postcard shows the original Palladio Building at 401 W. Superior St. in Downtown Duluth. The eight-story office building was designed by Chicago architect Henry Raeder and built in 1889. It was demolished in 1937 and replaced by the headquarters of WEBC Radio.

The new building later became known as the Palladio and housed the Chinese Lantern until the restaurant moved up the block in 1976. The second Palladio was demolished in 2015 to make room for the new Maurice’s headquarters, which opened in 2016.


History

Duluth Harbor Circa 1870s

Feb 27, 2022 1 Comment

Although this old photograph is labeled “Duluth Harbor,” it’s not what we think of today as the harbor. Based on a similar photo posted to Perfect Duluth Day in 2020 and the resulting discussion surrounding it in the comments, it was determined that the tall building shown in our photo here is the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad Grain Elevator A and was located roughly where the Northland Vietnam Veterans Memorial is today.

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Postcards from the Duluth Arena-Auditorium

Feb 24, 2022 2 Comments

Included in this post are four postcards, all published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography, showing the early days of what is now known as the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Numerous buildings have been added to the DECC campus over the years, but these postcards show only the original two, then known as the Duluth Arena and Duluth Auditorium.

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Selective Focus: Presidents’ Day Blizzard of 2022

Feb 23, 2022 No Comments

Somewhere in the range of 17 inches of snow fell on Duluth from Feb. 22 to 23, blowing into tall, fluffy snow dunes. Collected here are a few images from around the region, via Instagram.

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Postcard from the St. Louis County Courthouse at Night

Feb 17, 2022 No Comments

This undated postcard features a nighttime image of the St. Louis County Courthouse, which opened in 1909.


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Mystery Photo: Alice

Feb 14, 2022 No Comments

This special Valentine’s Day Mystery Photo comes from the Duluth Public Library, where it was found in an office after one of the librarians retired. The photo is dated Oct. 28, 1918 and comes with a message of love on the back.

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History

Postcard from Duluth, St. Lawrence Seaways Westerly Terminus

Feb 10, 2022 No Comments

This undated postcard, published by Northern Minnesota Novelties of Crosslake, Minn., offers a nice pre-freeway aerial view of Downtown Duluth on it’s upper image and a shot of the Aerial Lift Bridge and shipping canal on the lower side.

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Selective Focus: Winter Recreation and Icy Silliness

Feb 08, 2022 No Comments

Sledding, paddling, lollygagging … drifting off on an ice chunk. Collected here are a few images from Instagram of simple winter pleasures.

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Mystery Photo: Drag Racing on Lake Superior

Feb 07, 2022 4 Comments

Allouez Bay in Superior was recently the scene of a stock-car racing event, which might have seemed like a newish idea, but … the undated photo above has a handwritten message on the back that reads: “Taken on Lake Superior. Duluth in distance. Thousands on ice at time of races. A new sport. 24 in. of ice at time.”

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Bob Mason with the save in 1982

Feb 05, 2022 No Comments

This 40-year-old press photo shows University of Minnesota Duluth goalie Bob Mason about to make a save at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. It is credited to Star Tribune photographer Cletus “Pete” Hohn.

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Selective Focus: Seeking River Stories

Feb 04, 2022 No Comments

The St. Louis River Alliance typically organizes an annual Winter Walk event in February, but the rise in COVID-19 cases led the organization to cancel it for the second year in a row. Instead, stories, photos and videos are being collected throughout the month to to be shared on the alliance’s social media accounts to encourage people to get outside and enjoy winter.

Featured in this post as examples are photos by the alliance’s development director, Alyssa Johnson.

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Postcard from a View on Duluth’s Hillside

Feb 03, 2022 8 Comments

This undated postcard shows Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge, ships on the lake, the Duluth Arena-Auditorium, parts of the Downtown and Canal Park areas and more circa perhaps 1980 or so.

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Monthly Grovel: February 2022

Feb 03, 2022 No Comments
(Enter the amount of your choice.)

As we ease in and out of mask mandates and public health challenges, the world of arts, athletics and leisure carry on. And the PDD Calendar has all the details as usual. Each month we reach out with one beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events. So if you appreciate it, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account.

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Random

Red pennants make sliding safe for kids at street intersections

Feb 01, 2022 1 Comment

An update to the post “Sledding Duluth’s Avenues in 1921“:

By 1922 it was determined that the safe thing to do is hang red pennants to warn drivers about popular sledding intersections.

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Selective Focus: Beargrease 2022

Jan 31, 2022 No Comments

The 38th running of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon is underway. Collected here are a few select photos via Instagram. The 300-mile race is expected to finish on Feb. 1 in the afternoon.

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