A postcard of the proposed Civic Center buildings made before any of them were built. (Image: X-Comm.)
On this day in Duluth in 1907, the Duluth Commercial Club voted to approve the plans of Chicago architectural firm Graham, Burnham & Company’s plans to replace the St. Louis County Court House with a new building and, eventually, an entire Civic Center that would eventually replace the 1889 city hall, the 1889 county jail, and the 1892 federal building. More than 200 local businessmen had gathered “under the auspices of the Public Affairs committee and pass[ed a] resolution calling for [a] grouping of public buildings.” Burnham’s design, presented in Duluth by his partner E. R. Graham, served Burnham’s own “City Beautiful” movement, inspired by his “White City,” home to the 1893 Columbia Expedition in Chicago. Construction of the $1.5 million court house, faced with New Hampshire granite, began July 28, 1908, and the building was formally dedicated and opened to public use in the fall of 1909. While Burham did not design the other three Civic Center buildings, his plan and design ideas were incorporated by local and federal architects. The St. Louis County Jail, a later addition to the plan (its site was selected by Burnham) was built in 1923, Duluth City Hall in 1928, and the Federal Building in 1929. Burnham also designed Duluth’s Alworth Building. Read more about the plan from the 1907 news coverage here:
