Have you ever wondered how Minnesota became known as the land of 10,000 lakes? Every Minnesotan knows that the state boasts closer to 11,842 (give or take) lakes--significantly more than, say, Wisconsin. That number swells to 28,176 if you include ponds and wetlands, too. So where did the perfectly round number of 10,000 come from? The rise of the automobile industry brought with it a surge in tourism opportunities for middle-class
Read MoreThe Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa was awarded funds from the federal Economic Development Association in 1973 to begin the construction of a new hotel on the shores of Lake Superior. The Band believed that their location would draw visitors from the Twin Cities, Duluth, and western Ontario who were looking for a unique
Read MoreVeda Ponikvar was born in Chisholm in 1919 to Slovenian immigrants who worked in the mines that dotted the Iron Range. Ponikvar didn't learn English until she started school, but soon became a star pupil in her Chisholm school. By the time she was 11 years old, she'd made up her mind about her future--she wanted to run a newspaper. The idea likely came from watching
Read MoreRichard Osterberg opened the Osterberg Cafe in 1921. Originally located on Lincoln Avenue in Alexandria, the cafe moved to a more prominent location on the east side of Broadway between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in 1926. The interior featured pressed-tin ceiling and wooden booths.
Read MorePierre Bottineau was born around 1817 near Pembina in the Red River region of what is now North Dakota. His paternal ancestors were Huguenots--French Protestants who held to the Reformed tradition of Protestantism--who came to America and settled near Boston. His father was a trapper and explorer in the early-19th century, and his mother was
Read MoreWhen Grandma’s Saloon and Deli opened at the foot of the Aerial Lift Bridge, Duluth’s Canal Park area was far from an ideal location to open a new restaurant. It was a virtual wasteland of junkyards and crumbling warehouses. But owners Mick Paulucci and Andy Borg saw potential in opening their new restaurant near the lake and picked a spot just steps away
Read MoreThe Duluth Homestead Project, also known as the Jackson Project, began under the United States Resettlement Administration (USRA) in 1936. The purpose of the program was to relieve the shortage of sustainably affordable housing for families in Duluth. Qualified families in the Duluth area could receive a house on five
Read MoreAgate Bay in Two Harbors had become a major shipping point for iron ore coming from the Mesabi Range to the west by the late 1880s. Ships were finding it difficult to navigate into and back out of the harbor, so in 1891 construction began on a lighthouse overlooking the bay.
Read MoreClarence R. Magney was born on January 11, 1883 and spent his childhood in the St. Croix River Valley. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Magney secured a job at the law firm of Jenswold & Jenswold in Duluth. His first legal case took him by boat to Grand Marais, sparking his love for the natural beauty of the north shore.
Read MoreMost of us wouldn’t consider a 13,000 square foot mansion situated on a six-acre wooded lot with more than 400-feet of Lake Superior shoreline anything less than the very finest. But having a majestic estate like Glensheen for a neighbor is tough! When Harry and Marjorie Dudley built their home, they chose not to compete with their (very familiar) neighbors to
Read MoreAlthough the local resort industry near Detroit Lakes stretches back to the 1870s, it wasn’t until the automobile allowed families to become more mobile that Detroit Lakes became known as one of the top resort destinations in the region. As roads improved and leisure time increased for
Read MorePark Terrace was an opulent building of Victorian townhouses located on a steep hill just off of Mesaba Avenue in Duluth. Built in 1890 by the Myers Brothers Investment Company at the cost of $50,000. Park Terrace was one of the first multi-family buildings in West Duluth. Two of the Meyers brothers, Henry and Benjamin, lived at
Read MoreAs construction workers were excavating a roadway along the eastern shore of Prairie Lake near Pelican Rapids in 1931, they uncovered one of the most exciting prehistoric finds in this region of North America—a human skeleton. The remains were found nine feet below the surface and encased in fine layers of clay which had once been
Read MoreLast fall I was able to cross a few stops in Duluth’s west end off of my to-do list. I wanted to walk the path that once ran alongside the Incline Railway for several years, but it always got pushed down on my list because I haven’t spent a lot of them in this part of town. I decided to park along Skyline Parkway (between N Sixth Avenue W, and N
Read MoreBefore the Interstate Bridge was built between Duluth and Superior in the late-1890s, the only way to get between the two cities was by ferry. Of course, ice often prevented the ferry from crossing in the winter. In 1894, the Duluth-Superior Bridge Company was incorporated with the purpose of building a bridge that connected Connors Point
Read MoreWhen people think of the gold rush, they think of California, but Minnesota had its own gold rush. With stories of people striking it rich in California spreading east, even the slightest hint of gold elsewhere in the country would spark a new frenzy. When a vein of gold-laden quartz was found amid the forests and lakes of
Read MoreTravelers come upon the Stewart Creek stone-arch bridge in a bend of an unpaved section of Skyline Parkway, where the bridge reveals its mammoth, craggy, Picturesque stonework over a beautifully wooded ravine. The bridge was constructed around 1925 as part of a new section of the scenic parkway. It conveys a mood rather than a
Read MoreThe Thomson Pioneer Cemetery is located within the boundary of Jay Cooke State Park near Carlton. This cemetery was the burial place for many pioneer families of the nearby village of Thomson. The majority of the graves date to the 1880s and 1890s and most of them are unmarked.
Read MoreThe Arthur Orr was a 286’ steel package freighter built by the Chicago Ship Building Company. She was entered into service as a package freighter on the Great Lakes in 1893. The Arthur Orr served faithfully out of Duluth, carrying packages and small freight up and down the north and south shores of Lake Superior. After leaving Duluth with a
Read MoreRumors of copper riches hidden in the North Shore's streams and hillsides had excited the imaginations of mineral prospectors and speculators for years. Copper towns were numerous along the North Shore of Lake Superior in the mid-19th century. With few exceptions, the town sites, much like their creators' dreams, never became
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