Paul Lundgren, Author at Perfect Duluth Day - Page 24 of 2735

Next Image

Paul Lundgren Posts

Duluth considers “trackless trolley” in 1921

Oct 06, 2021 No Comments

One century ago the Duluth Street Railway Company — predecessor to the Duluth Transit Authority — was keeping a close eye on plans for adding trolley buses in Minneapolis. How long did it take for Duluth to get it’s first “trackless trolley”? Pretty much exactly ten more years.

According to Zenith City Online, Duluth’s first trolley buses ran on Oct. 4, 1931. The Duluth Herald reported about Duluth considering trolley buses in its Oct. 6, 1921 issue, one hundred years ago today.

History DTA, Roaring Twenties, Transportation

Postcard from Up North, 2001

Oct 03, 2021 No Comments

This postcard appears to have never been mailed, but it has the name of a recipient on the back and is dated Oct. 3, 2001 — 20 years ago today. The card was published by Erickson Post Cards & Souvenirs in Hermantown, and the photo is credited to Benjamin Fondrik.

History Benjamin Fondrk, Erickson Post Cards & Souvenirs, Postcards

Condor: Duluth band in the 1970s

Oct 01, 2021 No Comments

Condor group photo shot before a gig at Press Bar in St Cloud.

One of Duluth’s more notable bands of the mid-to-late 1970s was an act called Condor. There was very little information online about the band in 2021, when this post originated as a crowdsourcing quest to change that. Photos have since been added, along with new information at the bottom of the post.

History, Music

Selective Focus: Fall Colors 2021

Sep 28, 2021 1 Comment

The Arrowhead region is awash with color once again. Track the progression of fall and peak color with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Fall Color Finder.

Featured here are select images from Instagram showcasing this year’s fall color display.

Photos Fall Colors, Instagram, North Shore of Lake Superior, Selective Focus

Postcard from the Incline Railway with View of Minnesota Point

Sep 27, 2021 2 Comments

This postcard was mailed from Superior on Sept. 27, 1906 — 115 years ago today — by W. F. McMannis. The recipient was Miss Mabelle Reed of West Dover, Ohio. The image depicts the Duluth Incline Railway, showing the view from the top of the Duluth harbor and waterfront district, and of course Minnesota Point.

History Detroit Publishing Company, Incline Railway, Minnesota Point and Park Point, Postcards

The Pettersen Gals at Point of Rocks

Sep 23, 2021 No Comments

And the award for best Duluth photo of 1911 pretty much has to go to this postcard image of three gals on Point of Rocks looking out over the city. And someone was smart enought to write their names on the back. Nora, Emma and Inga Pettersen posed for this shot 110 years ago.

History Postcards

Postcard from the Central Motel in West Duluth

Sep 20, 2021 No Comments

This postcard of the Central Motel was mailed Sept. 20, 1956 — 65 years ago today. The address, 24 N. Central Ave., is now greenspace across Main Street from Irving Park. The land is controlled by the idled Duluth paper mill, which was sold by Verso Corporation in May to ST Paper.

History Hotels / Motels / Resorts / Hostels / Lodging, National Press Inc., Postcards, West Duluth

Postcard from the Coal Docks in 1911

Sep 17, 2021 No Comments

This postcard was mailed Sept. 18, 1911 — 110 years ago today. For some reason it took more than a month to reach it’s destination. It bears a second postmark of Oct. 26; indicating it took 38 days to travel about 250 miles from Duluth to Miss Martha Moe in Wood Lake.

History Coal Docks, Postcards

Postcard from the College of St. Scholastica, 1931

Sep 13, 2021 No Comments

This postcard of the College of St. Scholastica was mailed Sept. 13, 1931 — 90 years ago today. Robert Strauss of Snyder, N.Y. was the recipient. The message on the back is from his parents, who write: “Hello Boy. On our way to Seattle.”

History College of St. Scholastica, Duluth Photo Engraving Company, Postcards

Monthly Grovel: A Decade of the PDD Calendar

Sep 12, 2021 No Comments

Donation amount: $ (Enter the amount of your choice.)

It was 10 years ago today — Sept. 12, 2011 — when PDD officially launched its event calendar. Since then our team of PDD Calendar cruise directors have published an estimated 68,000 listings of Duluth-area happenings — from concerts and plays to blood drives and cribbage tournaments.

In recent years we’ve reached out once a month with a beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events, and that’s what this anniversary edition of the Monthly Grovel is about. So if you appreciate the event calendar, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account.

Random PDD Shop Talk

Attack on America

Sep 11, 2021 No Comments

It’s Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, 10:30 a.m. I’m standing in my kitchen munching on an apple. Suddenly, a huge man who looks like the professional wrestler Razor Ramon comes thundering through the front door announcing that he is an employee of the Water and Gas Department and needs to read the meter.

Without asking for identification or taking any security precautions whatsoever, I show him to the basement stairway and resume chomping on my apple. Soon, my basement housemates greet Razor Ramon and he starts talking to them about how the country is at war.

“We’re at war, dude,” I hear him say. “Haven’t you turned on the TV or the radio yet?”

I turn on the television in the living room and see a huge cloud of smoke and debris where the World Trade Center once stood. The news anchor explains that two hijacked passenger jets smashed into the towers, causing them to collapse.

History 9/11 Attacks, Saturday Essay

Postcard from First Methodist Episcopal Church

Sep 09, 2021 No Comments

The written message on the back of this century-old postcard is dated Sept. 9 by “Aunt Martha,” but has no postmark or other indication of the year. The card shows First Methodist Episcopal Church on the corner of Third Avenue West and Third Street in Duluth. The building stood there from 1893 to 1969.

History Churches, Postcards

Denfeld High School: Tower of Opportunity

Sep 07, 2021 No Comments

Although this brochure for Denfeld High School has a 1991 copyright, the photos appear to be circa 1987-88. Alert eyeballs will spot current Denfeld principal Tom Tusken and Duluth School Board member Alanna Oswald as students in the photos.

History Denfeld High School, Duluth Public Schools

Selective Focus: Duluth Superior Pride 2021

Sep 06, 2021 No Comments

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @afrogeode

Four days of Duluth Superior Pride events wrapped up yesterday. Collected here are select images from Instagram of the festivities.

Photos Duluth Superior Pride, Instagram, Selective Focus

First stretch of Miller Trunk Road concrete laid in 1921

Sep 02, 2021 1 Comment

On Sept. 2, 1921 — 100 years ago today — crews began laying concrete paving on Miller Trunk Road near Twig. The photo above, by Louis P. Gallagher, was shot when a quarter mile of the 21-mile stretch had been completed, according to the Sept. 5 issue of the Duluth Herald.

History Transportation