Pioneer Hall will take form on this construction site adjacent to Minnesota Slip. Ground was broken on April 7, 1975, for the Pioneer Hall and Duluth Curling Club. The Silver Broom World Curling Tournament in March 1976, drew 41,000 fans from ten countries to the new ice sheets. Grand opening celebrations were held August 30 to September 12, 1976. The Northwest Passage, a skywalk from downtown to the Arena Auditorium, was completed in 1976. Eight years after the Arena Auditorium was opened in 1966, it was pumping $6 million into Duluth's economy. The annual payroll averaged $300,000 and more than 750 people were employed on either a part or full-time basis. The Pioneer Hall expansion was the first of many.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This view shows Canal Park in the right foreground and downtown Duluth behind. The railroad tracks are parallel to Superior Street and will be displaced by the I35 freeway. The flat, undeveloped areas west or to the left of the Arena-Auditorium will later become the site for Playfront Park, Bayfront Festival Park, and the Great Lakes Aquarium. In this photo, Canal Park's recent addition is the 1973 Marine Museum adjacent to the 1906 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Building. Both are near the base of the North tower of the aerial lift bridge. In the middle of this view is the Arena Auditorium (opened in 1966) that will later to added to and renamed the DECC in 1987. To its right is the rectangular Pioneer Hall. Ground was broken on April 7, 1975, for the Pioneer Hall and Duluth Curling Club. It is a world-class curling facility. The Silver Broom World Curling Tournament in March 1976, drew 41,000 fans from ten countries to the new ice sheets. Grand opening celebrations were held August 30 to September 12, 1976. The Northwest Passage, a skywalk from downtown to the Arena-Auditorium through the Pioneer Hall, will be completed in 1976.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Julius Howland Barnes founded Klearflax Linen Looms, Incorporated, and was president of the board. This was the manufacturing plant at 63 Avenue West and Grand. Barnes sought a way to utilize flax straw, then largely burned in Minnesota fields were it was produced. Initially he planned to make toweling, but that proved unworkable. Flax made a durable and artistic rug. In 1933, only 60 people were employed in the mill. They diversified, and 200 were employed with a payroll of $30,000 a month. The plant used no coal, but was steam heated using waste products from raw materials. Looms were invented to accommodate the flax material after it had been cleaned, steamed, dried, combed and carded, and spun into yarn. The company also utilized wool and cotton. The company gained national prominence when it began to advertise in magazines like Vogue, Good Housekeeping and Ladies Home Journal. One rug was in the main entry of New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel and showed little wear after an estimated 10 million people had walked across it. Another was made in 1939, weighing a half-ton, cost $300,000, was 15x30 feet, of special design, for the Finnish capital at Helsinki. Barnes sold the company to Romos enterprises of Ohio in April 1953.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
The Duluth Herald and the Duluth News Tribune grew out of the early newspapers. This is the current home of the Duluth News Tribunes' staff and production at 422-424 West First Street in downtown Duluth. At the time of its construction and opening, both the evening Duluth Herald and the morning News Tribune were published at this site. They merged in 1984.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
This local business at 4702 Grand Avenue began as Diamond Calk Horse Shoe in 1907 by Otto Swanstrom the inventor of the "diamond calks" in 1900. The plant was sold in the 1980s. In 1994, the last workers vacated. The building was razed in 1996.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
St. Germain Street was converted to a pedestrian mall. Workers putting finishing touches to downtown mall as shoppers and onlookers walk by. Woolworth's store can be seen in background.
Looking southward along South Minnesota Avenue in St. Peter from a location near the intersection with Broadway. The signs of many businesses that have since disappeared can be seen, such as Stensby Cleaners, Big John's Restaurant, the State Theater, Gannon's Restaurant, and the Odell Pharmacy.
A night view shows the Duluth Arena Auditorium and parking facilities. The Minnesota Power and Light substation is in the foreground. There is a lighted Christmas tree surrounded by a car display at the joint entrance to the complex. The Arena Auditorium opened to great fanfare in August 1966. The arena was home to UMD hockey and seats for 8,000, and the Duluth Symphony finally had a grand hall for its performances and sat 2,400. It was renamed the DECC or Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center on August 31, 1987. It was expanded and re-opened June 18, 1990. The Harbor Side Convention Center and Parking Ramp additions were opened January 31, 2001.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Image shows an aerial view of city of New Prague facing northwest. On the upper left of the image is the New Prague Mill, the center of the photograph shows the mill pond, and on the lower right is Saint Wenceslaus church.
Modern Bar and eight other businesses damaged by fire. Fronts of ice laden Horseshoe Liquor, Lucille Heinen Beauty Salon and Naldo's buildings after fire with St. Cloud Fire Department extension ladder truck parked in street.
In 1968, Mark's Drug Store became Nord's Corner Drug, when Elmer Nord bought out his partnership with Donald Mark, the third generation representative of the Mark family of druggists.
This view of the soda fountain, possibly in Nord's Corner Store, shows the seating, ice cream menu, Coca-Cola dispenser and Bridgeman ice cream advertising.
Fire at the Hotel Norton on 104 Second Street southeast in Rochester. This was a very difficult fire to fight given the extreme cold temperatures. Several people died in this fire. The event spurred other businesses in Rochester to install sprinker systems.
A vessel enters the harbor in this view of the canal with downtown Duluth in the upper portion of the image and Minnesota Point at the bottom left. Fifth Avenue West runs directly from the St. Louis County Courthouse to the waterfront. Both the Soo Line passenger depot and its train sheds and the Union Depot and its train sheds are to the left of Fifth Avenue West. To the right of the Fifth Avenue West overpass is the Arena Auditorium complex that celebrated its grand opening in August 1966. The sand beach of Park Point is in the foreground. The Fire department headquarters building is at 608 West First Street.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections
Meat hanging on pegs with four men standing by counter. Left to right: Harry Solem, Roman Borseth, John Grotte, and Bob Reisdorph. Store was located on the south side of the Windom square on 9th Street.
View shows Commerce Street in the foreground and Minnesota Point and its sandy beach to the right of the bridge. At the top left, Canal Park businesses and industries fit between Minnesota Slip and Lake Superior. Two cars are crossing the bridge. Ground was broken December 19, 1963 for the Duluth Arena Auditorium. The Arena Auditorium complex opened to great fanfare in August 1966. UMD hockey was played at the arena which, seating 8,000, was also the site of performances of entertainers and rock concerts. The Auditorium was home to the symphony, opera, ballet, and artists like Marcel Marceau. It was renamed the DECC or Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center on August 31, 1987. It was expanded and re-opened June 18, 1990. The Harbor Side Convention Center and Parking Ramp additions were opened January 31, 2001. At the far right are businesses removed for the Fifth Avenue West Overpass, and later, the Great Lakes Aquarium and Bayfront Festival Park.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections