WATCH: See What Iconic Duluth Landmarks And Locations Looked Like In 1967
It's always interesting looking back at old photos and videos, seeing how much some things have changed, while other things have stayed quite the same. As someone that has called Duluth home for many years, I find it fascinating to see what things were like before my time here.
I'm a total sucker for old photos and footage, showing what old landmarks, streets, and other locations around town looked like from decades gone by. When I saw this old footage from 1967, shared by Henrietta Warner via PerfectDuluthDay's YouTube channel, I was amazed by just how much some parts of town are drastically different, while other things were nearly identical to what they are 56 years ago.
Take, for example, Garfield Avenue on the way to the Blatnik Bridge. When this video was captured, the bridge was only a few years old. It was dedicated in 1961, but wasn't even named by the title we all know it by today. It was renamed for Congressman Blatnik in 1971, four years after this image was captured.
Then, there's the old Flame Restaurant, which used to be where the Great Lakes Aquarium is now, across the street from the DECC Symphony Hall. When it was open, this restaurant featured "a beautiful view of the harbor" from their "glassed-in dining room". I can only imagine those views, while different than what we see now, were still pretty awesome!
Some of the biggest differences in the video are that of the DECC's facility and nearby Canal Park.
The DECC complex as we know it now features AMSOIL Arena and other components as part of a number of additions through the years. This view, for example, shows the Symphony Hall on the right, with the original DECC on the left, and the Aerial Lift Bridge peeking over from behind. In modern times, you'd see AMSOIL Arena in the forefront-left of this shot.
Or this view of the smaller (but still impressive for its time) DECC from the slip area where the William A. Irvin now sits. At the time of this footage being captured, the Irvin was still sailing the Great Lakes, and would continue to do so for another 11 years, until 1978. Of course, the DECC would go on to see a number of additions, including the movie theater (which would be in the forefront, near the dirt pile) and AMSOIL Arena, which opened in 2010 - 43 years later.
Canal Park was also very different than what we're used to today. Now home to restaurants, bars, hotels, and shops, it was a much more wide open space that was far less geared toward tourism and leisure time.
While there was a semblance of a park space near the Lift Bridge and pier, there wasn't much else to draw visitors to the area - as pictured below from near the pier.
The video also looks at the Canal Park Pier, Superior Street, Leif Erikson Park (and the Leif Erikson boat), the Brighton Beach area, and even provides a view of the city's skyline from Canal Park. Give it a look here:
If you want another dose of history, here's a look back at how Superior Street in Duluth has changed over the last few decades. It's pretty amazing how many changes have happened in even just the town's recent history!