Park Point

By Peter Passi ppassi@duluthnews.com

Duluth is home to the longest natural freshwater sand spit in the nation, stretching about seven miles from Minnesota’s shore across the mouth of the St. Louis River. But this narrow strip of sand known as Minnesota Point (or Park Point) really is more of a man-made island these days, since residents punched a shipping channel through it in 1871.

Long before the canal, Minnesota Point was a popular summer gathering place for the region’s indigenous Anishinaabe people.

In 1679, the first documented European explorer arrived on the scene, when Duluth’s namesake, French Canadian Daniel Greysolon Sieur du Luht, and his crew arrived at the short canoe carryover indigenous residents used to cross the spit into Duluth’s natural harbor. They called the path Onigamiinsing, meaning “little portage.”

After European contact, Duluth soon emerged as a fur-trading center, with French and English fur companies vying for valuable pelts.

The Twin Ports also came to serve as an important harbor, offering the westernmost access to the Midwest via the Great Lakes.

Initially, Duluth’s neighbor, Superior, had the edge in attracting ship traffic via a natural point of entry to the east.

In 1870, however, the Minnesota Legislature authorized funding for a canal to be dug on the Duluth-side of the harbor, opening the city to new shipping opportunities. Superior objected out of fears that its port facilities would be disadvantaged and sought to block the project in court.

While Superior did succeed in obtaining an injunction to stop the work in the spring of 1871, it was too late. The Duluth Entry had already been dug, and subsequent court decisions ensured the city could keep the passage.

While Park Point, also once known by locals as Middleton, was part of the original city of Duluth when it incorporated in 1857, the city unincorporated just 20 years later in the face of economic headwinds.

Minnesota Point incorporated as a village that same year but later rejoined the city in 1889, after Duluth officials pledged to build a bridge to connect the Point with the mainland. It took more than 15 years to make good on that promise, with the construction of an aerial transfer bridge.

This original structure used a gondola to convey vehicles and people across the Duluth Entry. It was modeled after a similar structure built across the Seine River in Rouen, France.

The gondola was replaced with the modern-day Aerial Lift Bridge in 1929.

Minnesota Point emerged as a popular beach destination and was home to a number of summer cottages, including a colony of “hayfever cabins” marketed to people across the nation suffering the effects of severe seasonal allergies and seeking refuge in the relatively pollen-free breezes of Lake Superior.

But increasing numbers of people began to make their year-round homes on the Point, where the value of land has appreciated greatly in recent years. Today the neighborhood contains a mix of modest older homes sprinkled amid lavish beachfront residences.