We first visited Duluth because of a cheap flight—but this city quickly won us over. Nestled on the edge of Lake Superior, Duluth offers history, charm, and stunning views. It’s the perfect stop before heading up the North Shore.
Getting There
Location: Far western shore of Lake Superior of the Great Lakes.
Transport: I’d recommend flying into Duluth if you can as it’s 2.5 hours north of Minneapolis by car. The airport was very easy to navigate and car rental was a breeze.
First Stop in Historic Duluth: Aerial Lift Bridge
One of the most iconic landmarks in the city is the Aerial Lift Bridge. This mammoth steel and cable structure dates to 1905, making it over 100 years old and the oldest of all structural landmarks in the city. On June 6, 1973, the Aerial Lift Bridge of Duluth joined the National Register of Historic Places. It connects the “mainland” with Minnesota Point, a five-mile-long sandbar also known as Park Point.
The bridge spans the Duluth shipping canal. In 1870 Engineers built the canal to connect Lake Superior to the St. Louis River, but residents needed a way to cross the canal. A footbridge would be too rickety across the span, and a ferry turned out to be unreliable through the cold winters. Searching for a better solution, in 1892 a competition was held to find a better way.
The winning design was for a vertical lift bridge that could move out of the way of shipping traffic. People originally crossed it using a gondola-style carriage capable of shuttling back and forth across the lift. When it opened in 1905, the carriage could hold up to 350 people plus wagons, carriages and automobiles!
The city has updated the bridge to allow cars to drive across and we were fortunate enough to see the vertical lift move out of the way for a cruise boat passing underneath. We also took the opportunity to drive over the bridge and back, which was a fun thing to do.
Duluth Maritime Visitor's Center
Another must-visit site is the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center. You’ll find it at the historic Canal Park at the foot of the Aerial Lift Bridge. This site offers world-class viewing of shipping vessels entering and leaving the Duluth-Superior Harbor. The center dedicates itself to preserving the maritime history of the area and it is well worth a stop!
Exhibits demonstrate the history and operations of upper Great Lakes commercial shipping and the Aerial Lift Bridge. They’ve really done a great job in this museum. In particular, check out the historically accurate replica cabins and pilothouse of ships ploughing through the waves of Lake Superior.
Duluth and the Edmund Fitzgerald
The Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in Lake Superior during a storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of all 29 crew members. When launched on June 7, 1958, she was the largest ship on the Great Lakes and remains the largest to have sunk there.
Its mysterious demise inspired Gordon Lightfoot’s hit song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” (1976), which helped make it the most famous shipwreck in the Great Lakes.
The Maritime Museum in the Visitor’s Center has a great exhibition on the ship.
Historic Duluth Final Stop: Glensheen
Glensheen is a 20,000 square foot mansion in Duluth, which today is operated by the University of Minnesota-Duluth as a historic house museum. Chester and Clara Congdon built it between 1905 and 1908. This influential family is known for opening up iron mining in this region and setting aside land for public use, such as the North Shore Scenic Highway and Congdon Park.
Congdon was born in New York and met his wife while attending college there. After graduating, they moved to Wisconsin where he was a teacher and eventually turned to law with a successful practice in Minnesota. In 1892, they moved to Duluth and were hired to represent the Oliver Mining Company.
Oliver was the second largest steel producer in the nation after Andrew Carnegie. It was through this relationship that Congdon accrued his enormous wealth. He felt business leaders had an obligation to help their local communities and he became a politician in 1909 soon after Glensheen was built.
What to Expect on the Tour
The mansion is perched on the shore of Lake Superior and is the most visited historic home in Minnesota. The 12-acre estate features gardens, bridges, and the famous 39-room mansion built with remarkable 20th-century craftsmanship, telling the story of the Duluth region.
The collection is intact and original to the house. It’s amazing to realize the top hat in the closet was Chester Congdon’s, Clara wrote the letters in the desk drawer, and the maid organized the sheets in the linen closet nearly 100 years ago!
Tours of the home are available and highly recommended!
Inspired to visit Duluth? We went in the summer and it was nice and cool. It was July and we were comfortable in jeans and t-shirts with a jacket in the morning and evening.
I would also highly recommend the Fairfield Inn and Suites Duluth Waterfront. The staff were incredibly friendly, the rooms were fantastic and we had a very cool view of the Aerial bridge. The view is lit up beautifully at night. Be sure to ask for a high room facing the bridge!
Fans of naval history may like the original designs of my “Old Ironsides” shirt or a tongue-in-cheek 1773 “Spilling the Tea” shirt referring to the Boston Tea Party.
