On this day in Duluth in1889, the city organized its first Board of Park Commissioners. In March State Legislature had approved “An Act Providing for a System of Public Grounds for the City of Duluth.” This legislation created the board and gave it broad powers to acquire land, make improvements, and adopt regulations to guide…

On this day in Duluth in 1917, 385 officers and sailors of Duluth’s naval militia marched from Duluth’s new Armory at 13th Avenue East and London Road to the Omaha Station at 200 5th Avenue West (now part of I-35) before boarding trains bound for Philadelphia, the first leg on their journey into the first…

April 7, 1885: On this day in Duluth in 1885, Horace B. Moore was elected mayor. Moore was born in Danville, Illinois, in 1843 and later graduated Dartmouth College. He came to Duluth un 1880 to work for lumber dealer R. L. Henry, a lumber dealer and became the secretary of the Duluth Lumber Company…

On this day in Duluth in 1913, a headline in the Duluth News Tribune shouted “teachers must stop flogging students.” It ran over an article explaining that school superintendent Robert Denfeld said he would no longer tolerate rough discipline in schools. Denfeld declared, “We try to treat the children of the Duluth public schools like human…

On this day in Duluth in 1993, the Duluth City Council passed a resolution of intent to accept donation of the site of the ruins of the 1901 Duluth Normal School from the University of Minnesota Duluth. The building, completed in 1901, was destroyed by an arson fire on February 23, 1993. It was designed…

On this day in Duluth in 1916, a man walked beneath a ladder and bad luck immediately came his way. Here’s how the Duluth News Tribune reported it over one hundred years ago: “Nels Christiansen, a lumberjack, is not necessarily superstitious, at least he says so, but since yesterday afternoon he has developed an antipathy to…

On this day in Duluth in 1917, attorney Clarence Magney was elected mayor. Magney was born the son of Swedish immigrants in Trenton, Wisconsin. He came to Duluth in 1908 after finishing Harvard law school and was quickly recognized for his sharp legal mind, which propelled him into the mayor’s office as the U.S. entered…

On this day in Duluth in 1907, a Duluth News Tribune headline shouted: “U.S. STEEL CORPORATION WILL BUILD MONSTER PLANT IN DULUTH.” The paper went on to say that the plant “will make Duluth within ten years the largest city in the northwest and the first in rank of wealth.” It was a long time…

On this day in Duluth in 1901, William J. Olcott was elected president of the Oliver Iron Mining Company. Olcott was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 22, 1862, and raised in Marquette; Marquette in his native state. He attended the University of Michigan, studying chemistry and mining while playing a starring role on the…

On this day in Duluth in 2005, long-time Duluth Lift Bridge Supervisor Steve Douville lifted the bridge for the last time. By then, Douville had likely lifted the bridge at least 150,000 times, but the bridge got the last laugh on Douville: the man who likely “bridged” millions of drivers was himself bridged on his way…