Ore Docks Posts

Postcard from Three Ore Carriers at DM&IR Docks

Dec 18, 2023 No Comments

This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows the ore carriers Wm. B. Schilier, Peter A. B. Widener and Henry Phipps at the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range docks in West Duluth.

All three vessels were built for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company. The Schilier was sold for scrapping in 1978 in Duluth. The Widener was sold for scrapping in 1986 and towed to Lisbon, Portugal in 1987. The Phipps was sold for scrapping in 1976 in Duluth.


History , , ,

On Board a Great Lakes Freighter

Dec 10, 2020 3 Comments

The film above was discovered with no info such as who shot it, or when and where the scenes were captured. It clearly features Duluth at the beginning and end, however, and appears to be circa 1937.

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DM&N Railway Ore Docks in West Duluth, early 1900s

Mar 29, 2019 No Comments

This photo of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway ore docks in West Duluth is from Detroit Publishing Company. The Library of Congress dates the image as “between 1900 and 1915” and notes it shows “probably Dock No. 1 at left” and lists the three freighters in the foreground as George H. Russell, Sultan and James E. Davidson.

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History, Photos ,

DuluthiLeaks: Historic Bridge Report for DM&IR Ore Dock No. 5

Sep 26, 2017 No Comments

How historically significant is West Duluth’s old ore dock and its viaduct and bridges? The Minnesota Department of Transportation retained the consultant team of LHB, Mead & Hunt and 106 Group to produce a multi-purpose study in 2014 that was part of a more comprehensive process involving numerous agencies looking at 140 historic bridges. Part of the goal of the “Local Historic Bridge Report” for the “DM&IR Ore Dock No. 5 Approach” was to gather historical information should the property owner — Canadian National Railway — wish to request a nomination be prepared for the National Register of Historic Places.

For the third edition of DuluthiLeaks — Perfect Duluth Day’s feature in which public documents are released as if they contain secret information leaked from an anonymous whistle blower — we peak into a study of four steel-beam bridges that are part of the mile-long approach to DM&IR Ore Dock No. 5.

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Northern Pacific Ore Dock in Allouez

Aug 20, 2017 1 Comment

At Loon’s Foot Landing in Superior’s Allouez neighborhood, near the mouth of the Nemadji River in the Allouez Bay Channel, stands the remains of the Northern Pacific Ore Dock — built from 1912-13; abandoned by 1970. In July, Liftoff Aerials sent the PDD Drone up to have a bird’s-eye view of the old concrete-and-steel structure.

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Postcards from Duluth’s ore docks

Feb 18, 2015 4 Comments

Duluth, MN, Mammoth Ore Docks, Aeroplane View, c1920s

Duluth’s first ore dock was built in 1893, just east of 34th Avenue West. The Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway built several docks there for loading iron ore from the Iron Range for shipment to steel plants in the East. The first five docks were built of wood, which was gradually replaced by steel and concrete.

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History, Photos ,

Derailed train cars fall from bridge by Duluth’s ore docks

Feb 03, 2011 5 Comments

DerailedAction

A Canadian National train carrying 17 empty cars derailed while approaching a limestone storage area on a trestle bridge near the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway Ore Docks this morning.

Two cars fell; one landed upside down, the other landed against a support for the ore docks and sat standing on its end. No one was hurt.

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