This postcard, published by the Duluth Photo Engraving Company, was mailed 100 years ago today — Aug. 30, 1924. It shows the Great Northern Power Company Dam, now known as the Thomson Dam and operated by Minnesota Power.
The Duluth Preservation Alliance has announced its 2024 list of the ten most endangered places. The list includes buildings with active plans for demolition, properties with uncertain futures and underrecognized places with overlooked history that might be vulnerable to future threats.
For a tad more than 21 years, Perfect Duluth Day has depended heavily on unpaid labor. Though multiple independent contractors receive paychecks for their contributions to the website, the amount of work that goes out has always greatly exceeded the amount of dollars that come in. That’s why we occasionally toss up a post to remind everyone that PDD can always be better or worse based on cash flow, so donations are a big help.
Another thrift store find: I would love it if anyone with stories about this book, about its poetry or the art or the press, would post below or email dbeard @ d.umn.edu.
Jack Brown, Mitchell Glatzel and Noah Pongratz duel at Leif Erikson Park. When playing jugger they go by the names Dragon, Tumbles and Grub.
There’s a weekly sword fight at Leif Erikson Park in Duluth. Rolling, sliding and dodging blow after blow of foam attacks, three duelists who call themselves Dragon, Tumbles and Grub always draw a crowd of onlookers.
To the uninformed, the spectacle might seem like a form of live-action roleplay. But it would be more accurate to say Dragon and his crew have introduced a new sport to Duluth: jugger.
Tweed Museum of Art Director Julie Delliquanti.
The fall semester hasn’t quite begun at the University of Minnesota Duluth, but the new director of the Tweed Museum of Art has been meeting with faculty in disciplines across campus to examine how the museum can further contribute to intellectual pursuits.
Alan Sparhawk performed at Radio Heartland’s Minnesota Music Month showcase at First Avenue in April, backed by Al Church on drums and Cyrus Sparhawk on bass. The set featured the songs “Stranger,” “Get Still,” “Can U Hear” and “I Made This Beat.” Sparhawk’s upcoming album White Roses, My God releases Sept. 27 on Sub Pop Records.
I’m still slowly writing the literary history of Duluth and would love if anyone with stories of Savage Press would post below or email me at dbeard @ d.umn.edu.
“Angeles” is the fifth video release from Ian Alexy‘s new EP of cover songs titled Campfire Extraordinary. The song “Angeles” was originally written and recorded by Elliott Smith.
Dive into this week’s current affairs quiz and see how many of this month’s headlines you remember.
A back-to-school PDD quiz comes your way on Sept. 15. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Sept. 11.
A recent push to place a memorial to the Edmund Fitzgerald on Barker’s Island got me thinking about the local oft-forgotten wreck of the Thomas Wilson. My 1995 edition of the book Shipwrecks of Lake Superior (edited by James R. Marshall) calls the Wilson “Duluth’s doorstep shipwreck.” The author of the Wilson chapter is legendary local scuba diver Paul von Goertz, who says on page 75 that “The Thomas Wilson ‘sails the bottom’ less than a mile from the ship canal.” A 308-foot whaleback steamer loaded with ore, the Wilson got T-boned in 1902 and sank within three minutes.
What bothers me about the wreck is that it may hold the remains of seven crew members:
“Of the 20 men that comprised the Wilson’s crew, nine were lost. Only two of the nine bodies were recovered. The remaining seven are entombed to this day in the hull of the Wilson … [the wreck] remains in pretty good shape …. To the best of my knowledge, entry has not been gained into the turret housing the boiler room. A safe guess would be that the men entombed in the wreck might be found in the boiler room, as this was the compartment nearest the actual point of collision. The preservation qualities of ice cold Lake Superior have protected the old wreck well … On one dive, I examined some wooden planking near the stern. The wood was not in the least rotted and even the putty in the seams was intact … One could safely speculate that the cold water would also preserve the remains of the seven sailors entombed in her belly.” (Lake Superior Shipwrecks, pp. 76-77)
Who can save Curtis Kraft Mattson from villains of the highest order? Only Graham Hakala in a classy car. It’s all in the latest music video from Big Into.
I love Henry’s taste in the quirky and just plain odd. All of that is made visible in this WDIO interview with the local poet, who offers to teach us to become Canada Gooses.
