Alworth Building Posts

Postcard from the Alworth Building in 1913

This postcard of Duluth’s Alworth Building was mailed Aug. 11, 1913 — 110 years ago today. Someone named Mary sent it from Duluth to Miss Julia Heskin in Minneapolis.

Postcard from West Superior Street, Alworth Building, et. al.

This postcard from the early 1900s primarily shows the buildings on the 300 block of West Superior Street in Downtown Duluth. The white building with the flag is the Alworth, Duluth’s tallest building from 1910 to 2022. Construction of the new Essentia Tower is relegating the Alworth to second-tallest status.

Northern Pacific Railroad Locomotive #1849

This 1952 photo shows Northern Pacific Railroad Locomotive #1849 in Downtown Duluth, with Duluth’s tallest building — the Alworth — in the background among other structures. NP’s #1849 was built in 1923 and scrapped in 1957.

Sorry Alworth Building, you’re not special

The website of Rotary International published a story in August about reading, with “suggestions for making each book count.” Around the middle of the story is this nugget:

Recognize that not all reading pleasures can be shared. I have friends who will swear up and down that Frederick Exley’s A Fan’s Notes is the greatest sports book ever written. This, for the record, is like being the tallest office building in Duluth. Which in and of itself doesn’t make the building special.

Well, don’t worry, Alworth Building, Perfect Duluth Day thinks you’re special. All 247 feet of you.

Postcards from the Alworth Building

Downtown Duluth’s 247-foot-tall Alworth Building has been the city’s tallest commercial high-rise since its construction in 1910. Standing at 16 stories above Michigan Street and 15 stories above its street address at 306 W. Superior St., the Alworth is also the tallest mid-block building in Minnesota. The nearby 11-story Maurices Headquarters, completed in 2016, is Duluth’s second-tallest commercial high-rise at 207 feet.