Members of Ballyhoo performing at the inaugural Homegrown Music Festival in 1999. (Photo courtesy Leon Rohrbaugh; photographer unknown)
On the eve of the 25th annual Homegrown Music Festival we take a look at every single locatable image from the first Homegrown in 1999. It was a few years before digital photography became a common thing, a few years before social media existed, and a few years before Homegrown became one of the most photographed events in Duluth.
Select photos from Instagram spanning mid-March to mid-April 2023, all hashtagged with the name of a certain website. #perfectduluthday
Duluth & Iron Range Railroad locomotive No. 3, known as “Three Spot,” was built 140 years ago, in 1883, by Philadelphia-based Baldwin Locomotive Works. It has been on display at the D&IR Depot in Two Harbors since 1923 — a solid century. This photo is estimated to be from the 1940s.
Location: The horizon, in the shipping lanes. Material: Reinforced treated concrete with steel superstructure. Height (above the waterline): 300 feet. Ships will have to navigate around this stunning monument.
The Committee for Building Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan (formerly the Committee for Building a Giant Colossal Statue of Bob Dylan) is pleased to announce its 12 finalists! Thanks to a generous anonymous donation, ALL of the statues in this post will be built in the next five years. Thank you to our state regulators who approved this project, and congratulations, Duluth!
Select photos from Instagram spanning mid-February to mid-March 2023, all hashtagged with the name of a certain website. #perfectduluthday
The lake is out there somewhere in this desolate wasteland at the peak of human endurance. Pro tip: If downtown is closed up because of blizzard conditions, the Boat Club is still open because it’s part of the Fitger’s hotel, and they’re all trapped in there eating each other, but it’s open. A great place to hole up here in the last outpost of civilization during the snowmageddonpocalypse. That is a vat of pepper-soaked vodka. Bloody Mary review: 9/10.
Select photos from Instagram spanning mid-January to mid-February 2023, all hashtagged with the name of a certain website. #perfectduluthday
Photographer A. Hoppenyan of Noct Studium studio took this photo last night at sunset on Lake Superior next to the Duluth Shipping Canal. The identity of the person in the shot is unknown. Hoppenyan would like to get a print of the photo to the mystery paddle boarder, so give a shout if you can provide a clue.
Select photos from Instagram spanning the first days of 2023, all hashtagged with the name of a certain website.
Harry Welty lit up his latest snow sculpture on Wednesday, an homage to Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal’s image of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945. You can read more about the famed photograph at pulitzer.org. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say the artistic statement being made is that America has been through a difficult time, yet the country, its people and flag endure.
The sculpture is clearly visible driving up 21st Avenue East, at 2101 E. Fourth St. Welty spoke with Perfect Duluth Day in 2016 and KDLH-TV the next winter about his ephemeral artwork.
The Duluth News Tribune recently published an article about the Downtown Task Force’s recommendations to improve conditions in downtown. This summer, I spent some time walking through the Skywalk system and was a bit shocked by how empty it was. The summer might not be the most popular time to use the Skywalk, but it wasn’t just the absence of people. So many of the shops that I remembered were gone. I didn’t intend to make a themed photo series about this, but I had my camera and kept turning a corner to find another impossibly long, completely empty hallway.
