Dwight Woodbridge’s 1920 Sub-Arctic Exploration
One century ago, Duluth’s Dwight Woodbridge returned from a trip exploring “uncharted islands” in Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada. His story appears in the Aug. 10, 1920 Duluth Herald.
One century ago, Duluth’s Dwight Woodbridge returned from a trip exploring “uncharted islands” in Hudson Bay in northeastern Canada. His story appears in the Aug. 10, 1920 Duluth Herald.
Many early studio photographers around Duluth printed their photographs on flowery pre-printed cabinet cards, often with their names prominently displayed. Often the name of the person photographed is lost to history, but we can easily locate the photographer in the records more than 100 years later.
There seems to be a gardening boom in 2020, obviously due to more people staying home during the pandemic. West Duluth has a bit of a reputation for having had numerous gardens a century ago that slowly petered out in more recent decades. According to an article in the Aug. 7, 1920 Duluth Herald, gardening in West Duluth got a big boost from the neighborhood’s commercial club.
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Aug. 4, 1910 — from A. Nelson in Duluth to Miss Louise Skoug in Two Harbors.
According to the Historic Detroit website, the North West “began its life as one of the finest passenger steamers ever built for service on the Great Lakes — and, after a series of unusual events, ended that life by being torpedoed by the Germans during World War II.”
This postcard was mailed Aug. 2, 1950 — 70 years ago today. It features a view of Duluth’s harbor entrance, ship canal, Lake Superior and the Downtown business district.
Forty years ago today.
Forty-two years ago today — July 30, 1978 — the Duluth News Tribune published a feature about the Saints Duluth Roller Skating Center on the cover of its Today’s Living section. Featured in photos were Rory Wohlstrom, Tammy Bergman, Lynda Gill, Tommi Peterson and Henry Miltakis.
The undated postcard shown here is a scene from the Spruce Mine in Eveleth, about 50 miles north of Duluth. The card was published by David Milavetz News Company of Virginia, Minn. and produced by E. C. Kropp Co. of Milwaukee, Wis.
This undated postcard was never mailed, but at some point a message was scrawled on the back:
This is the main street in the business section of Duluth. It runs in the low part of the city and follows more or less regularly the shore of the lake.
This photo of an elk is dated 1926.
Duluth’s municipal zoo opened in 1923 after the city council gave a small piece of land to print-shop owner Bert Onsgard and hired him as zookeeper. He was paid $1 per year for tending to a white-tailed deer and a few native birds. The zoo would eventually expand to cover 16 acres of land surrounding Kingsbury Creek in Fairmount Park, and hold hundreds of animals from around the world.
Does anyone remember the two corner stores that were across from Bryant School on West Third Street? What were the names?
This undated postcard from Zenith Interstate News Company offers a view of grain elevators on Rice’s Point, the Duluth-Superior Harbor, Aerial Lift Bridge and other waterfront locations.
The caption on the back reads:
Duluth-Superior Harbor ranks second in the world, second only to New York City in tonnage handled annually. More than ten thousand vessels arrive and depart annually from the Duluth-Superior Harbor. In this picture you see featured part of the great grain elevators and docks in the harbor. There are also the world’s largest iron ore and coal docks in this magnificent harbor.
It was July 12, 1950 — 70 years ago today — that some dude with the initials H.E.W. sent this postcard from Duluth to Mr. Joe Rigatti of Pittsburgh, Penn.
The elaborate cedar bridge spanning Duluth’s Lester River was about one year old in the summer of 1899 when photographer William Henry Jackson visited Duluth and captured the image above. By 1931 the bridge was gone.
The book Duluth’s Historic Parks: Their First 160 Years by Nancy S. Nelson and Tony Dierckins notes the bridge was “a popular tourist stop, with picnic tables on the bottom deck and lounging on the upper promenade.” The ravages of weather limited the bridge’s life. The upper deck was removed in 1916, followed by the lower deck 15 years later.
