Saturday, February 9, 2013

Harbor History - Minnesota Point Lighthouse

The other day I hiked down to the end of Park Point and upon seeing the ruins of the old Minnesota Point Lighthouse I was inspired to do a quick historical video on this once important lighthouse. I hope you find this 23 minute presentation interesting and informative.

Friday, February 8, 2013

February 8, 1910 Beer wagon goes through Ice on St. Louis River

February 8, 1910 Beer wagon goes through Ice on St. Louis River
By Tony Dierckins Zenith City Online

On this day in Duluth in 1910, former Third Ward alderman Maurice McGinnis was driving a rig for Superior’s Northern Brewery over the frozen St. Louis River when the ice gave way. Horses, wagon, driver, and beer all plunged into the river. McGinniss manager to pull himself out of the frigid waters and “suffered no ill effects from his icy bath.” The horses did not fair as well—all drowned. McGinnis was on his way to deliver beer to Henry Ward’s saloon “near the steel plant,” which was under construction next to what would become Morgan Park. The beer got away as well. Despite the deaths of the “valuable team,” the Duluth News Tribune seemed more concerned with the loss of beer. Two days after the accident the newspaper printed a story under the bold headline “NO EFFORT TO RECOVER BEER KEGS FROM RIVER.” The paper reported that there was little chance of finding the kegs under the ice, and that they were likely already carried away downstream by the river’s current. It then pondered the upcoming thaw: “In the spring, the time the poet says a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, there are expected to be a large number of lovers of the amber fluid scattered along the St. Louis searching for the missing kegs.

Read More at Zenith City Press

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Bridge Lights Outage Update!

There have been some questions as to why the bridge lights have been off the past couple night.
Ryan Beamer, the Bridge Supervisor, indicated that they are switching out the photo cells that automatically turned on/off the lights. The new controls will be activated by astrological clock timers. This should be more accurate and not susceptible to weather.
The lights should be back on tonight!


Essayons Update

A while back I did a post about the Tug Essayons that had sunk in the harbor. Today, I turned one of the harbor cams for a closer look. Sadly, the mighty tug remains sitting on the bottom of the harbor in one of the slips near Duluth Timber.
Hopefully, someday, it may be raised and restored.  I have posted the original post at the bottom of this one.



Here is the old post! If anyone has any old photos of the Esayons, I would love to post them the the blog.
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The other day when I happened to be out taking pictures, I ran across the remains of the old Essayons tugboat resting on the bottom of the harbor with only the pilot house and smokestack sticking out of the surface like a grave marker.

Once the pride of the fleet, the Essayons was the historic retired Army Corps of Engineers tugboat that had been a Twin Ports fixture since 1908. The tug's engine is on display at the Marine Museum in Canal Park. 
The tug's owner was hoping to turn the boat into a floating bed and breakfast. However, vandal damage postponed the plan in 2004 and the tug was than docked near the Duluth Timber Company.
In 2009, shifting harbor ice pushed by a strong northeast wind, punctured the hull and the boat sank the the bottom, where it still rests today.
Perhaps someday it will be raised, but, for now, it quietly rests in peace, out of sight, and unnoticed.
"ESSAYONS" means - "Let Us Try" and is the branch song of the Army Corps of Engineers.

THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BRANCH SONG "ESSAYONS"
Essayons, sound out the battle cry
Essayons, we'll win or we'll die
Essayons, there's nothing we won't try
We're the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Pin the castle on my collar
I've done my training for the team
You can call me an engineer soldier
The warrior spirit has been my dream
We are builders, we are fighters
We are destroyers just as well
There've been doubters who met with the sappers
1 - We know our sappers will never fail
OR
2 - And then we blew them all straight to hell
Our brothers fighting on the battlefield
Look to us to point the way
We get there first and then we take the risks
To build the roads and the air strips
And bridge the mighty river streams
We don't care who gets the glory
We're sure of one thing, this we know
Somewhere out there an engineer soldier
Designed the plan for the whole darn show
Essayons whether in war or peace
We will bear our red and our white
Essayons we serve America
And the U.S. Army Corps of engineers
Essayons! Essayons!


Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Return to the old site format

Through trial and error, I have decided that the original duluthharborcam.com website is preferable to the new formatting.
Sometimes new, isn't always better.
Thanks for your patience and support over the past several weeks as I tried some different designs -- maybe I will try again during the off season next year.

Dennis