Postcards from the Launching of a 600-foot Freighter
Although the postcard caption above reads “Launching of a 600 ft Freighter, Duluth, Minn.,” the vessel in the image appears to be the SS Edward Y. Townsend, which was built in Superior.
Although the postcard caption above reads “Launching of a 600 ft Freighter, Duluth, Minn.,” the vessel in the image appears to be the SS Edward Y. Townsend, which was built in Superior.
The caption on this undated postcard suggests that it shows the ruins of American Fur Company’s trading post at Fond du Lac, but it is actually the ruins of the home of Michael and Emily Chambers. (More on that in the comments.)
A flour mill fire in Superior caused more than $2.6 million in damage on Nov. 9, 1907 — 115 years ago today. The Duluth News Tribune referred to it as “the most disastrous fire in point of property loss, and probably the most spectacular blaze ever seen at the Head of the Lakes.”
The postcard shown above was mailed nine days after the fire. It was sent by someone named Frank to Master A. Pearson of Spokane, Wash. The photo apparently shows the smoldering remains of the Freeman Flour Mills and Elevator — Franks wrote “Fremon Mill” on the back of the card.
