History of Duluth, Minnesota, USA

Duluth, Jan. 29. - At 1:50 o'clock a.m. fire was discovered in the opera house block.

In thirty minutes the whole building was in a blaze.

The building contained the opera house, BOYCE & TOTTMAN, drugs; J. T. CONDON, hats; M. M. GASSER, groceries; LEVY, liquors. The building is a total loss.

The post office building is also in ruins, but the mails are saved.
The opera house building cost about $100,000 in 1884. The value of stocks destroyed is unknown, but will exceed $100,000. The entire loss, including that of lawyers, will exceed $250,000.

One of Duluth's worst blizzards. 70 mph winds, blinding snow piled drifts over 20 ft high, blocking second story windows in some buildings.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Famous Winter Storms

Duluth, Minn., Dec. 30. - Flames destroyed the Fargusson building in Duluth, Minn., causing a loss of about $250,000 on building and contents.

Duluth, a city and port of entry, the capital of St. Louis co., Minn., is finely situated at the W. end of Lake Superior, at the head of navigation on the great lakes, 156 miles N.N.E. of St. Paul, with which it is connected by three lines of railroad. It is also at the eastern terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Lat. 46° 48' N.; lon. 92°6' W. The site is the side of a hill which rises gradually from the shore to a height of about 600 feet above the lake. The harbor, called Duluth Bay, is protected by a narrow piece of land called Minnesota Point, which is 7 miles long and forms a natural break water, through which there is a ship-canal. The government of the United States is expending large sums of money in the improvement of the harbor by dredging and the construction of piers. Duluth contains a custom-house, 37 churches, a United States land-office, an excellent system of public schools, including a high school, 3 national and 6 state banks, a savings-bank, a signal-station, ...

Nov 27-28, 1905, another blizzard at Duluth with 60 mph winds. Sank ships in Lake Superior.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Famous Winter Storms

DULUTH, Min., Nov. 9.- Fire which started in the Great Northern elevator, at Superior, Wis., about 9 o'clock last night, was brought under control early today, after having destroyed the elevator, three flour mills, forty homes and 700,000 bushels of grain. Two scows, a derrick and two tugs were also destroyed.

The total loss is figured at $2,268,000, including about three-quarters of a million in wheat. All firms except Whitney Brothers, marine contractors, have insurance covering a large proportion of the losses.
One man who entered the plant of the Duluth-Superior Storage Company to rescue a tool chest was not seen again and it is thought he perished in the flames.