Canal

Very early Duluth felt that future growth depended on having suitable harbor and dockage. Winter storms wrecked breakwater and docks built outside Minnesota Point. Saint Louis Bay offered a protected harbor, but access required a canal through Minnesota Point. Dredging began in the summer of 1870 and cut through two-thirds of the point before winter stopped work. During the delay, opponents secured an injunction from the War Dept. to halt the project. When word reached Duluth on June 9, aided by the dredge Ishpeming, some 50 citizens with pick and shovel cut a 30-foot-wide channel before officers arrived to serve the injunction. The original canal was 200 feet wide with timber bulkheads. In 1898 its width increased to 300 feet, with concrete piers and bulkheads as they are today. Through this canal world shipping enters the largest fresh water harbor and the world's most inland harbor, the Duluth-Superior Harbor, which has 59 miles of harbor lines and an area of approximately 12 square miles.

Duluth, Minnesota · United States