This post card was mailed in 1906, but the image is from an earlier year. In the 1890s commercial fishing on Lake Superior was feeding Duluth and the entire Midwest with major operators: A. Booth and Sons (whose sign is visible at the left), Lake Superior Fish Company, H. Christiansen and Sons.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The caption of this post card says Clear span, 400 feet; clear height, 136 feet; total height above water, 186 feet. This view shows the waterfront when it was warehouses and wharves, docks, railroad freight sheds and slips. This view is probably from Skyline boulevard which, at this time, would have been called Rogers' Boulevard. William Rogers was the first parks department commissioner. In December 1959 the Duluth City Council and Mayor E. Clifford Bork changed the name of Rogers parkway and Skyline Boulevard to Skyline Parkway.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The caption of this post card says The Aerial Bridge, Span 393 feet 9 inches, 135 feet high from water line. Cost $100,000. Entrance to Duluth-Superior Harbor. The white building at the left is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Building constructed in 1906.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This photograph may have been shot from Seventh Street and about Lake Avenue. The bright narrow strip in the lower middle of the image is Lake Avenue leading to the Aerial Bridge. The rectangle and three dots parallel to the piers of the canal are the remnants of the Whitney rock crushing enterprise. The Whitney Brothers, of Superior, Wisconsin, had a sand and gravel processing business that was functioning in 1919. The concrete form that is still in the water was the dredging/crushing building. A tunnel ran from the building to the Point. There was a conveyor belt and railroad spur adjacent to the concrete building. Sand from the Apostle Islands and gravel from Grand Marais were carried to Duluth on a small vessel named Limit. The business also used a tug the William A. Whitney. The Limit was secured to the concrete building and the load of sand or gravel was unloaded into the steel hopper using a jaw-like clam shell, steam powered device. The belt conveyed the materials to shore and it dropped into a tunnel where trucks were ready. On Federal lake charts it is referred to as cribs. Telephone lines are in this photograph. In 1880, the first telephones were installed in Duluth by Walter Van Brunt for C. H. Graves and Company. In 1881, the Duluth Telephone Company was incorporated with $10,000 capital. In 1882, the first telephone directory was issued for 30 subscribers. In 1898, long distance lines between Duluth, Cloquet and Carlton were strung. In 1899, Duluth had 794 telephones. In 1900, the Zenith telephone Company (independent) started operations in competition with Duluth Telephone Company. The tower is the Central High School clock tower. The 1892 school has been the Central Administration Building for ISD 709 since the late 1970s.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The back of this photograph reads "Albert Olsen Grocery, Coates Street, about 1915." Coates Street, below Grand Avenue, ran from Thirty Fourth Avenue West to Thirty Seventh Avenue West.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This view of the west side of Central Avenue facing north shows the Alhambra Theatre at 321 North Central Avenue in the center of the image. Other businesses include W.B. Getchell Real Estate, Olson and Beck Shoes, Swanstrom and Ericson Clothing.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Proctor, near Duluth, was the home base of the Duluth Missabi and Iron Range Railway and its predecessor roads the D&IR and the DM&N. Proctor was created in 1892 when the railroad was extending into Duluth and needed large flat areas. It was the largest such yard in the world. In 1894, the village was incorporated as Proctorknott after J. Proctor Knott, a U.S. Congressman from Kentucky who delivered a satirical speech ridiculing Duluth. The name was later shortened to Proctor. Thousands of cars were handled daily.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections