March 31, 1930: Death of Duluth mining and real estate mogul Marshall H. Alworth

On this day in 1930, Duluth’s Marshall H. Alworth died in Miami, Florida, where he had been hospitalized “for some time.” Alworth was born in Oneida County, New York, in 1846. He left home at age fourteen to work on the Great Lakes and eventually became a land-and-timber explorer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. He was in Duluth as early as 1873 but left after the financial crisis of that year. He married Nellie Ray in Saginaw, Michigan, in 1878 and they moved to Duluth in 1882. Together they reared seven children, including Royal Alworth, who also rose to prominence in the Zenith City. Alworth purchased extensive mining lands on Minnesota’s Iron Range and formed the Alworth Mining and Development Company in 1893. Mining wealth followed, and Alworth invested in real estate in Duluth and in 1910 built the Alworth Building, which is still the tallest building in the Zenith City. At the time of his death, Alworth’s estate was valued at over $6 million, nearly $83 million today. You can read a history of the Alworth Building here and more about Mr. Alworth here.

Marshall H. Alworth. (Image: Duluth Public Library)