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On this day in Pottsville, Pennsylvania in 1926, the NFL’s Pottsville Maroons defeated the Duluth Eskimos on a sloppy muddy field—and it wasn’t because of rain. The Eskimos were in the middle of their legendary 28-game, four-month, 17,000-mile road trip, the longest in professional sports. By the time the Eskimos made it to Pottsville, their…
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On this day in Duluth in 1919, long-time police chief Chauncey Troyer died in Duluth’s St. Mary’s Hospital of a pulmonary embolism. He was 58 and was recovering from surgery on an intestinal ulcer he underwent on November 2. Troyer was born in Goshen, Indiana, February 28, 1861 and first moved to Duluth to work…
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On this Day in Duluth in 1928, thousands gathered to dedicate the city’s brand new city Hall. City Hall’s dedication was held in conjunction with Armistice Day observations, so the ceremony began with a parade, led by the Naval Reserve Band, that began at Third Avenue East and Superior Street and led to the new…
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On this day in Duluth in 1950, some time after midnight, two young men approached a pet deer named “Bambi” at Duluth’s Fairmont Zoo, lured it near them with food, then reached through the fence, grabbed the deer, and slit its throat. They then waited for it to bleed to death, climbed over the fence,…
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On this day in Duluth in 1884, fire broke out in the lumber yards of Oneota Township. The Duluth Weekly Herald declared that, “By far the most destructive fire that ever visited Duluth…swept the entire plants, mills, lumber yards, and buildings of the Oneota Lumber Company and Osterhout & Hughart Lumber Company from existence…when fully…
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On this day on the Mesabi Iron Range near Ely, six miners were trapped when timbers of the Sibley underground mine gave way and the tunnel collapsed. The miners included Gideon Oinonnen, Fred Antonsinch, Frank Antonsinch, George Floridan, John Homer, and Joe Scufska. Two men, brothers Joseph and John Liebe, managed to escape but Joseph…
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On this day in Duluth in 1950, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Rogers’ horse Trigger performed at the Duluth Armory along with a troupe of “Vaudeville performers from Hollywood.” According to the Duluth News Tribune, Trigger stole the show. “The famous horse danced, smiled, and counted his way into the hearts of thousands of Duluthians…
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On this day in Duluth in 1894, the village of Proctorknott—which surrounded the new Duluth, Missable & Northern Railroad’s rail yards—was established. The town is named for J. Proctor Knott, a legislator and (later) governor of Kentucky who in 1871 made the famous congressional speech, “The Untold Delights of Duluth,” which mocked the Zenith City.…
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On this day in Duluth in 1892, Duluth’s Board of Public Works was authorized to advertise for bids for the construction of a tunnel under the Duluth Ship Canal. Discussion of a tunnel had gone on for some time after the city rejected Alfred P. Boller’s plan for a bridge that would have cost $400,000…
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On this day in Duluth in 1915, officials considered laying explosive mines in the Duluth-Superior harbor as defense against hostile attacks. The United States was facing increased pressure to join the European allies in their fight against Germany, and politicians were beating the war drums throughout the country. Communities were preparing themselves, and as the…
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