1915–1919
The Aerial Lift Bridge is a landmark in Duluth, MN. It was built in 1905 and was the first transportation bridge in the United States. It is located on Lake Avenue and spans the Duluth Ship Canal, which connects the city of Duluth with Minnesota Point. The bridge was designed by Thomas F. McGilvray and C.A.P. Turner, and constructed by the Modern Steel Structural Company.
According to Zenith City Press, U.S.S. built Morgan Park (named for U.S. Steel founder J.P. Morgan; it was originally to be named “Model City”) to provide nearby housing for its employees. Construction began in 1913 and by 1915 the plant was producing steel. At the time, Morgan Park had the most modern school, hospital, and community facilities in the nation. The steel plant shut down in the 1970s, but Morgan Park remains a thriving community.
All the company’s buildings were made chiefly of concrete block produced at the company’s own cement plant because the material needed little maintenance. The somewhat harsh look of concrete was softened by gables, eaves, and rooflines that concealed the appearance of monotonous regularity.
The heart of the community was the Good Fellowship Club, a workers’ association dedicated to serving sick or needy fellow employees. The club was housed in a large, multi-use building that included a gymnasium with a running track, an auditorium, an indoor swimming pool, and a bowling alley.
According to Placeography, “The Duluthian ore docks are directly associated with the ‘mining fever’ of northeastern Minnesota at the turn of the century. The iron deposits discovered on the Mesabi Iron Range were the richest in the world. The key to the economic success of this industry was the transport of the material.
The first timber docks were constructed quite simply — ore was ‘dumped’ from train cars onto the vessels below. This technique was advanced with the construction of the steel docks specifically designed to take the ore from the rail cars, store on the dock if needed, and load the ore onto ships. Spilling of the ore during the transfer from rail to ship was eliminated by means of a chute that connected the pockets on the rail car to the pockets in the cargo holds of the ships.”
Gowan Lenning Brown Company is a wholesale grocer, which formed by the merger of the Gowan-Peyton-Congdon and Wright-Clarkson companies. The building sits nearby the Aerial Bridge and was built to function as both a grocery manufacturing plant and a wholesale warehouse. It was built in 1902 and moved to 525 South Lake Avenue in 1915. According to Zenith City Press, “The firm’s products were sold under the ‘Honor’ brand, which used a likeness of George Washington with its packaging. German adorned the building with terra-cotta silhouettes of Washington’s profile.”
According to Minnesota Reflection, “Official highway trail registration form 116, recording and approving the highway trail that started from “Duluth and thence via St. Louis, Itasca, Cass, Hubbard, Beltrami, Clearwater and Polk Counties” and known as Theodore Roosevelt International Highway. The application was submitted by the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway Association on the 11th day of March 1919 and approved on the 17th day of March 1919. Form features an image of a rectangle with the upper top and bottom of the rectangle in white and the rest in red and the letters T.R. in the center. Also a marker with a circle on it surrounded by Theodore Roosevelt International Highway and the mile count to Duluth and Superior in the center. It is signed by Commissioner of Highways Charles M. Babcock.”
Resources
McKenzie, Hugh, 1879–1957. Gowan Lenning Brown Company, Duluth, Minnesota. 1919?. University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:2606
Minnesota Highway Department. Trail registration for the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway, Minnesota. 1919–03–17. Minnesota Department of Transportation, Mn Dot Library, reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/mdt:190
McKenzie, Hugh, 1879–1957. Aerial Lift Bridge, Duluth, Minnesota. 1915?. University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:2412
McKenzie, Hugh, 1879–1957. Men at Morgan Park Bank, Duluth, Minnesota. 1915?. University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:2328
McKenzie, Hugh, 1879–1957. Duluth Missabe and Northern Ore docks, Duluth, Minnesota. 1918?. University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, reflections.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:2510