On this day in Duluth in 1888, the second Oneota Elementary School opened at 4420 West First Street. Designed by renowned architect Oliver Traphagen, the school was a three-story Romanesque Revival–style building constructed of red brick featuring a tall square tower and a smaller round tower, both topped with iron finials. The school had six…

On this day in Duluth in 1907, the Duluth Builders’ Exchange told newspapers that if the union men did not return to work constructing the Sellwood Building the next day, they would be replaced by non-union labor. The labor strife began when Captain Joseph Sellwood, the building’s namesake and financier, hired the American Bridge Company…

On this day in 1843, future Duluthian George Spencer was born Westminster, Vermont. After attending high school in Boston, Spencer came to Duluth in 1870 to manage the Union Improvement Elevator Company. In 1880 he entered the grain shipping business with Melvin J. Forbes as Spencer & Co. In 1889, he and Forbes parted company…