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

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!

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

Heritage Marine - Helen H at work

The Helen H. was built in 1967, and initially named the W. Douglas Masterson. The Hellen H was the 3rd tug included with the Heritage Marine fleet belonging to Mike Ojard in 2011. She joined up with the Nels J. and Edward H. inside the Heritage Underwater fleet of pulls. This mighty tug pushes its 82 foot lengthy steel hull through the waters of St. Louis Bay in all types of climate and ice conditions.

This particular picture of the Helen H was taken the last day of shipping in January of this year as it assisted the John G Munson into port .

John Munson Arrival 1/25/2013

A sunny winter afternoon greeted the John G Munson as it entered the Port of Duluth and was given the honor of finishing the 2012/2013 shipping season. To all those who have enjoyed the Duluth Harbor through this website for the past year, I truly hope it has given you a moment of pleasure and relaxation by viewing a most beautiful place to live and visit. Duluth is a true gem of a city and whether you have visited in person or "virtually" I hope you will return. Until the shipping season opens again in a few short weeks, stop by and watch the Lake Superior sunrises and the change of the season. Best regards, Dennis O'Hara [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] John G Munson[/caption] [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] John G Munson[/caption]   [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600"] John G Munson[/caption]

American Victory

While the American Victory has not sailed in the past several years, it is still a great ship with a wonderful
nautical heritage. The boat is tied up at Fraser Ship Yard until further notice.

Perhaps an unlucky omen, she was launched on Halloween--October 31, 1942--as the tanker Marquette. She was built by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation's yard in Sparrows Point, Maryland as an oiler for the U.S. Navy. The vessel was commissioned, however, as the USS Neshanic (AO-71), and entered service in April 1943. During her first year, she was involved in several close encounters with both enemy submarines and air attacks on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On June 18, 1944, her luck ran out, as she was hit with a bomb from a Japanese plane while refueling a destroyer. She tied up alongside a sister ship, the Saranac, and some of the Saranac's injured crew (she was also attacked) were treated aboard the Neshanic. The Neshanic was later repaired and was decommissioned in December, 1945.
You can read more about the American Victory over at boatnerds.com

Lakers on Ice

Now that we have entered "Real Winter" with temperature finally dropping below 0 F, it is a great time to do some photography around the harbor.
The Roger Blough and John Boland are moored at Fraser Shipyard until spring.  While there is much work being done on them while they are bedded down for the winter, this morning, they seemed at rest locked in the icy slip.

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Wednesday 1/16/2013

Roger Blough arrived at 11:21

Shipping Slideshow (Lakers)

As the shipping season winds down for a few months, let these images be a reminder of the beauty of the Duluth Harbor.
(The slideshow will shortly)

Sunrise Spectacular!

Just caught a glimpse of the Lake Superior Sunrise this morning.  This is why I have the Harbor Cameras!
Enjoy! The temperature was 3F with a windchill of -10F.

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Sunday 1/13/2013

James R. Barker (US) departed Duluth at 10:55

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Saturday 1/12/2013

James L. Kuber/tug Victory departed at 13:10
John J. Boland arrived  at 15:15

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Friday 1/11/2013

Tug Victory arrived at 22:30
American Century arrived at 22:15

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Thursday 1/10/2013

Frontenac arrived at 21:00

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Wednesday 1/10/2013

While the boat traffic is now slowing and getting ready to bed down for the rest of winter, the sunrises continue to be spectacular.

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Monday 1/7/2013

John G. Munson departed at 19:20

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Sunday 1/6/2013

James R. Barker departed at 02:57
John G. Munson arrived at 03:15
Great Republic departed at 05:25
Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin arrived at 09:25
Rt. Hon. Paul J. Martin departed at 14:00

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Saturday 1/5/2013

James R Barker 

American Spirit departed at 04:00
Great Republic arrived at 07:05
James R. Barker arrived at 07:25

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Friday 1/4/2013

Great Republic departed at 02:25

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Thursday 1/3/2013

Great Republic arrived at 05:10
Indiana Harbor arrived at 13:35
Indiana Harbor departed at 16:35
American Spirit departed at 20:30

American Century at Anchor

The 1000 foot American Century waits at anchor today for its turn to load.

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Wednesday 1/2/2013

Mesabi Miner departed at 22:00

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Tuesday 1/1/2013

James R Barker Departure 1/1/2013

Paul R. Tregurtha arrived at 03:24
Mesabi Miner arrived at 05:34
James R. Barker departed at 07:34
Paul R. Tregurtha departed at 21:10

It happens every year! A strong cold front comes sweeping into the area from the arctic and streams across the warmer waters of Lake Superior.
The weather phenomenon makes for a beautiful scene and is well worth the numb fingers.
Enjoy the cold!

Dennis

(file images from 2010)

January Sea Smoke!

James R Barker (Jan 1, 2013)

The James R Barker passes under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge at 7:30 this morning and into the icy "Sea Smoke" rising off Lake Superior.  An appropriate scene for January shipping in Duluth.

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Monday 12/31/2012

Happy "Nautical" New Year!
Thank you for watching the Duluth Harbor Traffic in 2012 and looking forward to 2013. With two weeks left in this shipping season, there should be some great scenery to end the season.
The  big event of 2013 will be the Tall Ship Festival in July --- Always something to watch.

I hope to keep upgrading and improving the cameras in 2012 in order to provide the view in town.

James R Barker Arrival under a January Moonrise

James R. Barker arrived at 21:00
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