On this day in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1852, Duluth pioneers George and Julia Nettleton were wed. According to Mrs. Nettleton’s recollections, George “had been an Indian trader for several years on Madeline Island.” Roughly ten days into their marriage the pair headed off to Minnesota with George’s brother William. The group made it to the…

On this day up the shore in 1910, John Beagrease died in his home at Beaver Bay. Beargrease was born in 1858, though some accounts say 1862. His father was named Makwabimidem, or “Beargrease” in Ojibwe. John became famous working for the postal service, transporting mail between Two Harbors and Grand Marais along the Minnesota…

On this day in Duluth in 1870, attorney John Davis Ensign was accepted to the St. Louis County Bar. Ensign, a native of Erie County in New York Sate, had arrived in the Zenith City just months earlier. When Ensign was just 15 years old he began teaching school, using his income to study law.…

On this day in Duluth in 1928, 30-year-old student pilot Julius Brent of 301 101st First Avenue West—along with two boys, Dale Lyerly and Bruce Kunsman of Superior—crashed L. A. Hoffman’s “borrowed” airplane after the vehicle hit power wires and exploded. Brent and the boys first took off from Superior and, “contrary to regulations and…

On this day in 1836, future Duluth pioneer Luther Mendenhall was born on a farm in Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Michigan  and served in the Union Army during the Civil War before going to Philadelphia to study law. In the late 1860s he became involved with Jay Cooke’s Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad;…

On this day in Duluth in 1918, DPD Police officer John Callahan was shot and killed by a burglary suspect he was pursuing in Duluth’s Bowery. Callahan had responded to reports of robberies at two downtown jewelry stores, the first at 1:30 a.m., and had cornered suspect Levi W. Turbell at the corner of 5th…

On this day across the bay in 1856, William Epler arrived “afoot and footsore” to the young city of Superior, Wisconsin. Epler had been raised on a farm in Illinois and had walked to Superior on the Old Military Road from St. Croix Falls. Epler later moved across the bay to Portland Township (today Duluth’s…

On this day in Duluth in 1891, city alderman passed an ordinance renaming Bench Street Superior Street and Birch Street Superior Street East. Superior Street was also tweaked, becoming “London Road” at Eight Avenue East. Why? Because between 1877 and 1887, Duluth was a village, and its eastern boundary in 1887 was at 14th Avenue…

On this day in 1854, the United States Congress approved $15,000 for the construction of a light station on Minnesota Point. The action came in response to the 1854 Treaty of LaPointe, which opened the “Minnesota side” of Lake Superior to non-native settlement. In the early 1850s the U.S. government began work on a series…

On this day in Duluth in 1929, Mayor Sam Snively and other officials gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Duluth Airport. The event was part of a three-day parks celebration that included a concert at Leif Erikson Park and the dedication of Skyline Parkway, which had been extended to Jay Cooke State Park. Parks…