May 31, 1929: New municipal golf course opens in Superior

On this day across the bay in 1929, Superior opened its first municipal golf course along Tower Avenue—but it wasn’t around for long. It was built with financial support from the local Kiwanis Club. More than 150 people showed up to watch Mayor George E. Deitrich drive the first ball. That year, under the direction of with L. J. Marks, “14,000 rounds were played. In 1930, 20,000 rounds were played, and the city estimated that in excess of 30,000 rounds would be played in 1931.” The popularity of the golf course prompted the construction of the Nemadji Golf Course, which opened in October, 1931. The opening of Nemadji also apparently marked the beginning of the end of the Tower Avenue course, which, by 1934 “was not being maintained by the city and was no longer used as a golf course.” Superior was home to another course that essentially served as Superior’s answer to Duluth’s Northland Country Club. Opened in 1900—a year after Northland opened—the Gitchinadji Town and Country Club sat on 40 acres on a point of land north of Billings Park along the St. Louis River near the end of 21st Street. The Great Depression took its toll on the club, which operated sporadically until the clubhouse burned in 1955. Read about more lost golf courses of Duluth and Superior here.

This lithographic postcard of Superior’s Gitchinadji Town and Country Club was published some time between 1901 and 1915. The Club operated until 1955. (Image: Zenith City Press)