Superior, Wisconsin and Duluth, Minnesota

Located at the Head of the Lakes where the St. Louis River forms the natural headwater of Lake Superior, the twin cities/ports of Superior, Wisconsin and Duluth, Minnesota share the largest and busiest harbor on the Great Lakes.  Large grain elevators and huge ore docks dominate the harbor.  Iron ore, grain, coal, limestone, cement, salt, wood pulp, petroleum and other bulk cargo are shipped from here to ports around the world via the St. Lawrence Seaway and the lower Great Lakes.

Since it had the only natural entry into the protected harbor, Superior had a jumpstart on development over Duluth and was well on its way to being the dominant of the two cities.  That is until 1855 when the Treaty of LaPointe was ratified, ceding most of the Ojibwe land in northeastern Minnesota to the U.S. government and opening the area to exploration and settlement.  The Duluth area then boomed with the discovery of iron ore in the Vermilion Range and the 1871 opening of the Duluth Ship Canal.  Duluth soon surpassed Superior as the major settlement at the Head of the Lakes.



Ore docks at entrance to Superior, Wisconsin

Seven hours after leaving Raspberry Bay Lazy W was secured in a slip at Barker’s Island Marina in Superior.  Who would have thought that this was the one stop on our entire trip where we would have to run the air conditioning?!?!?  The temperature reached the humid mid 80’s. One more day of warm weather is forecast and then the high temperatures are expected to sink back to the low 60’s.  Bring it on!

The first order of business – find new house batteries.  Frank successfully completed that task and tomorrow the local Batteries Plus will deliver the replacements almost six years to the day since the dead ones were purchased.  Ka-ching, ka-ching. . .

Much of the sand dredged from the Twin Ports harbor in the 1880’s and 1890’s was dumped along the edge of Superior Bay forming an artificial island.  The island bears the name Barker’s Island after Captain Charles S. Barker, the man who carried out this early dredging operation.  Today it is home to an inn, a marina, the SS Meteor  whaleback freighter and a city park. The island is connected to the city of Superior by a short causeway. Unfortunately, the city of Duluth is not easily accessible from our location here.  Fortunately, we called Enterprise Rent-a-Car and they picked us up!

Duluth has been called the 'San Francisco of the Midwest' - both cities have similar water-to-hilltop topography

  With a car now at out disposal, we were free to reprovision and then explore Duluth.  The Canal Park area with the iconic Aerial Lift Bridge is a great location to catch the arrival of the large freighters entering the Duluth Ship Canal.  Arrival and departure information is provided by the Army Corps of Engineers at Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center.  We were lucky to have chosen Wednesday for a visit – not one, but two freighters were scheduled to arrive within 15 minutes of each other!  There was time for a quick lunch of wild rice specialties at Grandma’s Saloon and Grill before heading back to the pier to watch the first arrival at 1:30.

Joyce L Van Enkefort approaches the Duluth Ship Canal and scoots under the bridge!

 

 

The piers of the Duluth Ship Canal extend 1,700 feet into Lake Superior.   Rolling waves were thundering through the canal and occasionally through the pier scuppers, leaving substantial puddles along the walkway.  It was a good day to be a landlubber!

Wave action along the Duluth Ship Canal

Fifteen minutes later Whitefish Bay arrives

The Aerial Lift Bridge has been raised for forty-five minutes now!  Patience is a virtue when traveling in Duluth when the big freighters arrive.

With the passage of the freighters through the Duluth Ship Canal completed, the Aerial Lift Bridge is lowered and the crowds disperse.  The show is over!

 

Hugging the shoreline of Lake Superior, the Lakewalk meanders past lakefront hotels and lodges, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Fitger’s Brewhouse.  Beer was first brewed at this location in 1881.  By 1972, it had become to difficult for small breweries to compete with the likes of Miller and Anheuser-Busch and the brewery closed.  The complex was given new life in the 1990’s and turned into an entertainment and lodging destination in Duluth. Beer was brewing again 1n 1995.  We stopped in for a beverage and a snack.

One of the most photographed lighthouses on Lake Superior is Split Rock Lighthouse, 45 miles north of Duluth.  We had a car and it was a gorgeous day for a drive along the lake.  The trip was well worth it. 

Split Rock Lighthouse - we went down a steep wooden staircase to the shoreline for this picture.

 

Built by the federal government in response to a disastrous 1905 storm that sank or damaged 29 ships on western Lake Superior, Split Rock Light was first lit in July of 1910.  Since there was no roads in the region at the time of construction, all the building materials arrived by boat at the base of the 130-foot cliff and were hoisted up by a derrick.  The derrick remained in use until 1915,  hoisting supplies to the keepers and their families.  A tramway replaced the hoist and derrick in 1916.  By 1934, keepers were finally able to truck their supplies from Duluth.  These hardy people lived on site during the shipping season and left before the brutal winter set in.

The rocky shoreline of Lake Superior at Split Rock Lighthouse

The long walk back up 171 steps to the light