April 6, 1937: C. Rudolph Berghult defeats Snively to become youngest Duluth mayor ever 

On this day in Duluth in 1937, 31-year-old C. Rudolph “Rudy” Berghult upset popular incumbent Samuel Snively—in the mayor’s office since 1921—to become not only the first mayor who was born here in the Zenith City, and not only the youngest mayor ever elected in Duluth, but also the youngest mayor ever elected in a U. S. city with a population over 100,000. (Duluth had about 105,000 citizens at the time). The Duluth News Tribune called Berghult’s election “the greatest upset in municipal politics [in Duluth] in many years.” With 71 of 78 precincts reporting, Berghult had 14,936 votes; Snively 14,359—a difference of 577 votes. The paper noted that the results from unreported precincts was not expected to overturn the results. Berghult was born in Duluth on April 15, 1905. When he ran for mayor in 1937, newspapers described him as a “31-year-old student of municipal government and economics,” a pretty good resume for a civic leader.  One of the first things Berghult did after he took office was to remove F. Rodney Paine as Duluth’s Parks superintendent. After 1937, outside of the construction of Enger Memorial Tower and the completion of the Minnesota Point Recreation Area and the Fond du Lac Winter Sports Complex, (which had already been planned), Duluth’s parks were paid little attention until the 1980s. Berghult would serve one term in office, losing the 1941 election to Edward H. Hatch.

Rudy Berghult. (Image: Duluth Public Library)