History of Canal Park 1925–1929
Duluth’s most prominent land mark is what is today known as the Duluth Aerial Lift bridge. What some don’t know is that before the classic bridge that connects the mainland to Minnesota point was the “Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge” it was actually the Duluth Aerial Transfer Bridge. The year span from 1925–1929 are the years that the conversion project began and nearly finished. These years are the reason why Duluthians, tourists, college students, and many more get to enjoy the staple part of Duluth, Minnesota. There is much more that went into constructing the bridge than just building. It took around four years for all the discussions, votes, approvals, and documents to be all sorted out before they began converting. Here’s an overview of how this happened.
Duluth, Minnesota in 1925–’26
Not only were the people suffering from the small pox epidemic of ’24 and ’25, but Duluthians were also suffering to cross the popular Transfer Bridge. Many people were beginning to experience troubles on the bridge, and the bridge started to be known for its many traffic jams. The Duluth population had risen to 100,000 and about a fourth of these individuals or households were car owners. Most of this growth was infact because of how easy it was to travel across the bridge. Duluth had actually became Minnesota’s third largest city at this point. The convenience the bridge was in crossing people and vehicles across the canal was beggining to be an inconvenience.
More projects that encouraged were being completed at this time also. In 1925 the plan for the Arrowhead Bridge began, which connected Superior, Wisconson to West Duluth and would relieve traffic and congestion to the interstate bridge. This also encouraged travel, The Hotel Duluth celebrated its opening on May 22nd. September 17th, 1925 the Lester River Bridge on London Road where it turns into Congdon Boulevard was completed. The opening of Minnesota Highway 1 in 1925 was one of the vital characteristics that developed much recreation on the North Shore. In 1926 the highway was finally given a name, the “Lake Superior International Highway.” July 14th, 1926 the Lincoln Hotel opened its door for tourists and businessmen.
“Perhaps nowhere in the United States will the tourist and the vacationist find more to interest and charm them, more scenic beauty and better camping and fishing facilities, than along Minnesota state highway №1, especially that portion of it that runs through and north of Duluth into the Arrowhead country, now famous as the playground of the nation” (Duluth News Tribune, Dec. 26, 1926).
The Battle for the Aerial Lift Bridge in 1927
Many of the moves made in 1927 lead to the construction of the Aerial Lift Bridge of ’29. On January 27th, 1927, representitives of the Park Point Community Club, which was basically the communities own form of local government at the time, approached the city council with plans to construct a verticle lift bridge. Samuel Clarke Dickinson, the clubs presenter, explained the bridge would allow continuous traffic and would have a two way lane, with side walks on either side. The estimated cost was around $550,000 dollars, and the club offered to pay a wopping $180,000 dollars of it. In February, the project was approved by the city council and in March the state legislature gave its permission for Duluth to proceed. At this point cables on the ferry began breaking, stopping the ferries services for short periods of time, so it was time to get a move on this project. In December, Congressman William L. Carss Minnesota and other representitives introduced bills for the bridge in Washington D.C. to congress, since the bridge is on government property. All the approval for the project began to fall into place.
Transfer Bridge Conversion Comes to A Hault in 1928
January 1928, bills legalizing the project passed. President Calvin Coolidge signed the legislation in February with the grand total of bridge conversion coming to $710,000. In 1927 when the plans started for the bridge conversion, the city council was presented with a petition signed by 235 park point property owners that permitted the conversion. Why do their votes matter you may ask? It was actually costing $52 per lot on Park Point for land holders for the conversion. Many people owned multiple lots. Some of those individuals who owned multiple lots were of the twenty-five who did not sign the petition. Those who had multiple lots could be paying over $2,000 a piece for the bridge conversion. They were in rage that they were paying for something that would benefit all Duluthians, which was probably viable. They also believed that general tax revenues should be used to fund the bridge since it would be used by other Duluthians also. They brought a suit against the city council acknowledging that the charges violated the city charter. This case was going on until October 1928, when Judge C. R. Magney said they actually did not violate the citie’s charter. This meant they could go on as planned with the conversion.
Conversions Begin in 1929
It’s July 1st, 1929 and the well known Aerial Transfer Bridge takes its last crossing of the canal. The project is finally going to begin, but wait…..who’s going to do all that work? After months of bidding and going through construction companies, on February 25th, the construction is given to Kansas City Bridge Company at a bid of $449,600 for construction. They hoped to be started on the bridge before the beginning of April, but the approval doesn’t end yet. Engineer P.C. Bullard of the Corporation of Engineers had some last reckonings on the bridge, he wanted additional cables for safety and restrooms on either side of the bridge for those waiting. His approval was needed since the bridge was on government property. Luckily this was fixable, and on August 10th, 1928 construction workers began stripping gondola off the bridge. Workers also prepared the bridges extension. The bridge was designed by Thomas F. McGilvray and C.A.P. Turner. By January 12th, 1930 the bridge began being used and was lifted the first time on March 29th, and that’s how the beloved Aerial Lift Bridge came to be.
Thank you Zenith City Press for providing me with valuable information for this project.
