Image taken from bluff above bay showing passenger steamer "Ossifrage" at dock. Large dock owned by the Weiland Family, a prosperous family that owned and operated a lumber company out of Beaver Bay (1860-1883). Note the group of men and women of the village standing next to a tipi in the image foreground. Weiland homestead on hill above the dock.
Image of John Beargrease and brother delivering mail for Grand Marais, Minnesota by dogsled. Packed trail is somewhere between Two Harbors and Grand Marais, Minnesota. Before road improvements in the 1920s, a combination of dogsleds, steam ships, sail boats, and sleighs were used to deliver mail to settlements north of Two Harbors. Working in pairs, contracted carriers would make the perilous journey twice weekly.
Central Hillside; downtown; Duluth Skyride; Seventh Avenue West incline railway; tracks; view up Seventh Avenue West in downtown Duluth; brick row house; apartment buildings; power lines; people; houses; trees; stairs; sidewalk; pedestrians; summer; the incline was put into service late in 1891 to connect Superior Street streetcar lines with a line running a short distance from the hilltop into Duluth Heights; the original cars were large enough to hold four teams of horses with wagons as well as large groups of people; in 1911 two news cars were installed under control of an operator at the top of the hill; a conductor opened and closed the doors and collected fares; its last run was Labor Day 1939
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Street scene shows a packed dirt road lined with sidewalks. Several multi-story houses line the road. Two harbors courthouse on the right. Two Churches on the left. Identified as 4th Avenue, Two Harbors.
Mail delivery, especially in the winter, was tough on the north shore of Lake Superior. During the wintertime, a combination of sleigh and dogsled were used to distribute mail and people north of Two Harbors. Not until 1925 when the roads were improved North of Two Harbors could mail carriers easily travel their routes.