Kitchi Gammi Club
From Zenith: A Postcard Perspective of Historic Duluth, copyright © 2005, Zenith City Press, Duluth, Minnesota. Image: X-Comm.
831 E. Superior Street
Architect: Bertram Goodhue
Built: 1912 | Extant
Kitchi Gammi Club. (Image: Duluth Public Library.)
In 1883 sixteen Duluth men — including Guilford Hartley — formed the Kitchi Gammi Club, the first men’s club in the state (female guests used a side entrance as late as the 1980s). After renting several locations, including rooms in the Grand Opera House, the club built itself a $304,000 home in 1912. The building features elements of Gothicism mixed with Georgian pilasters and Tudor details along with the stone carvings of George Thrana. Many wealthy men from out of town became members so that they could stay at the Kitch rather than a hotel when in town on business. One, Andrew Carnegie, was expelled for not paying his dues. The building was designed by Hartley’s friend Bertram Goodhue, who also drew the plans for the Hartley Building (734 East Superior Street) across the street from the Kitch, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (1710 East Superior Street), about a half mile down the road.
