On this day in Duluth in 1941, the minor league Duluth Dukes played their first home game at Duluth All-Sports Municipal Stadium, known as Wade Stadium since 1952. According to Duluth baseball historian Anthony Bush, “While fans and players enjoyed the facility, the Dukes took it on the chin in their match with their cross-port…

On this day in Duluth in 1961, the first Soap Box Derby race was held at Duluth’s Derby Downs, built within Hartley Park. Duluth’s first All-American Soap Box Derby, described as a “coaster wagon race for boys,” took place in July 1947 at Lemon Drop Hill, a portion of London Road between Twenty-sixth and Thirtieth…

On this day in Duluth in 1888, Duluth’s German’s dedicated their brand new Turner Hall at 601 East Third Street. Most city’s in America had their own Turner Hall at the time, a gathering place for members of the local Turnverein Society. The Turners were founded in Germany in 1811 by a group of men who…

On this day across the bay in 1890, Superior’s Sunday Morning Call newspaper reported that mayor and prominent businessman Martin Pattison was born Simon Thayer—and had led a double life. According to Superior historian Judith Liebaert, “Early in 1890 Pattison was arguably at the pinnacle of his popularity among his peers and the residents of…

On this day in Duluth in 1897, the Duluth Common Council unanimously passed an ordinance banning women from saloons. The ordinance, introduced by alderman Shannon, prohibited women from entering saloons. Those violating the ordinance faced a fine of up to $100—worth nearly $3,000 today—or 90 days in jail. The ordinance was installed just two weeks…

On this day in Duluth in 1978, Duluth police arrested Marjorie Congdon Caldwell on charges of two counts of murder in the first degree and two counts conspiracy to commit murder. It was the day after her husband, Roger Sipe Caldwell, began serving two life sentences for the murder of Marjorie’s adoptive mother Elisabeth Congdon…

On this day in Duluth in 1869, Nicholas Decker purchased property at 31 West Superior Street to open a saloon to sell his beer. In the mid 1860s Decker had purchased the brewery saloon Washington Avenue and Brewery Creek built in 1859 by Gottlieb Busch and his friends and financed by Sidney Luce, who in…

On this day in Duluth in 1920, the Duluth city council ordered acting police chief Anthony Fiskett to “clean up vice” in the wake of the dismissal of police chief Murphy, who mishandled the June 15 lynch mob and was arrested for smuggling Canadian whiskey into Duluth. Fiskett, 57 years old at the time, was…

On this day in 1890, the Duluth Beltline Railway—aka the “West Duluth Incline” or the “Bay View Incline” began operations. The railway, which allowed people in West Duluth to travel to Bay View and Proctor, ran from a station at Sixty-First Avenue West and Grand Avenue up to the newly developing neighborhood of Bayview Heights…

On this day in Duluth in 1883, the Duluth Daily News lamented the fact that St. Louis County couldn’t replace its new courthouse “for a dozen years to come.” The paper was off by fourteen years, as the building would not be replaced until 1909. Duluth had no municipal facilities at the time—no courthouse, no…