Twin Ports History

The sites of Superior City and Duluth were first settled in the early 1850s. Speculation on rich copper ore being found in the area brought hundreds of people seeking their fortune. Federal improvements to navigation came soon after, with construction of a brick lighthouse on Minnesota Point in 1858, marking the Superior Entry.

Predecessors to todays Corps, the "Topographical Engineers," surveyed the bay area in 1861, resulting in the first dredging of the harbor to ensure adequate shipping channels.

Earliest Port

* Predecessors to todays Corps, the "Topographical Engineers," surveyed the bay area in 1861, relulting in the first dredging of the harbor to ensure adequate shipping channels.

Duluths earliest port facilities, built on Lake Superior in 1870-71, coincided with excavation of Duluth Ship Canal and completion of the railroad from St.Paul.

* Planning also began in 1861 for the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railway connecting Duluth and St. Paul, and initiated a commercial boom at the head of the lakes. Railroads, transporting enormous quantities of grain, make the Duluth- Superior port possible.

Grain Trade and Elevators

* By the time the railroad was completed in 1870, a new dock and a giant grain elevator stood ready to transfer cargoes from the rail cars into ships docked at the outer harbor on Lake Superior, protected by a breakwater which jutted out into the lake.

Increasing grain trade at the Twin Ports led to the construction of new grain elevators in the mid-1880s.

* The Duluth Ship Canal, excavated privately in 1871, passed through Minnesota Point and enabled ships to enter the bay on the Duluth side. Loading and unloading docks were constructed in the shelter of the new inner harbor soon afterward. To accommodate this growth, the natural harbor depths of six to eight feet were deepened by the Corps to 12 feet in 1867 and 1874, and to 16 feet in 1881-82, when new locks were also built by the Corps at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Virtually all Twin Ports shipping also passes through the Corps Soo Locks which connect Lake Superior to the Lower Lakes and the Seaway.

Duluth Ship Canal

* Growth accelerated throughout the 1880s. Flour mills were built to process and package by-products from the grain trade. Millions of barrels of flour were shipped from the Twin Ports to Buffalo and the east on steamers and sailing craft. Most upbound ships brought coal cargoes from Pennsylvania and Ohio for distribution all over the west while others brought passengers and package freight of all kinds. Major shipyards prepared to build modern steel ships.

In the early 1890s, the Duluth Ship Canal saw cargo tonnage surpass 3.5 million tons, spurred by iron ore from the nearby Mesaba range

* Iron ore from the nearby Mesabe Iron Range began to flow through the harbor in 1892, swelling shipments to millions of tons annually. Congress combined the Duluth and Superior ports in 1896, and for the first time provided a joint appropriation of $3 million for harbor improvements. During the next ten years, channels were enlarged and deepened to 20 feet. Large anchorage basins were created inside the harbor, and both the Duluth and Superior entries were rebuilt and enlarged. Total cargo tonnage went from 100,000 tons in 1870, to 3.5 million in 1890, and to ten million in 1990.

* In addition to grain, coal and ore, another important cargo proved to be lumber. At the turn of the century, cargoes of Minnesota and Wisconsin lumber grew to tremendous proportions. For the next ten years, about 400 million board feet of lumber (a million tons) were shipped from the harbor annually, making it the hub of the industry until 1920, when focus shifted to the Pacific coast.

* The Corps kept pace with the growing Twin Ports industry, widening, deepening, and extending channels to new locations as the harbor and vessels expanded to new size and capacity. Channels were deepened from 20 feet to 24 feet in the 1930s. With the development of the St. Lawrence Seaway system during the 1950s, the waterways throughout the lakes, were make 27 feet deep to accommodate the largest lake ships, as well as the ocean-going foreign vessels.

Aerial Bridge

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Famous aerial transfer bridge, erected in 1905, allowed vessels to enter and leave Duluth side of the harbor and provide ease of crossing canal for growing "Park Point" population. Bridge was remodeled in 1929 to the present lift bridge configuration.

Miscellaneous Information

Bustling cargo docks handle many products including grain, taconite, coal, limestone, cement, and salt.

* The Twin Ports, Americas most inland seaport, offer dozens of maritime activities on 7,500 acres of protected water.