Duluth is a city (city status) that is the county seat of St.
Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The US The Census Bureau
recorded a population of 86,697 as of the 2020 census.
The fourth largest city in Minnesota, together with the city of
Superior (Wisconsin) to the south, forms the metropolitan region
called Twin Ports, which has a common port. This is connected to
the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence Seaway and is of particular
economic importance. The main cargo is raw materials from the
Midwest of the United States, especially iron ore, grain, coal,
oil and timber.
Fitger's Brewery, a brewery company built by Percy Shelley Anneke, a
son of the German immigrants Fritz Anneke and Mathilde Franziska Anneke
from 1884, today a monument (National Historic Place) and hotel
the
Aerial Lift Bridge
Native Americans inhabited the Duluth area thousands of years ago. It
is believed that the original inhabitants belonged to the Paleo-Indians.
About 2000 years ago, the Woodland peoples, known for their burial
mounds and pottery, inhabited the area. They also grew wild rice, which
is still grown today by Ojibwa tribes in the area. One of the first
Europeans in this area was Frenchman Pierre-Esprit Radisson, who
explored the Midwest in the 1650s and 1660s.
In 1679 Daniel
Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut came to the area of present-day Duluth. His
goal was to settle the conflicts between the local Dakota and Ojibwa
Indian peoples in order to advance the fur trade in the region. Through
his negotiating skills, he ensured peace between the peoples and was
able to secure his fur business. In 1692 the Hudson's Bay Company set up
a small trading post at Fond du Lac, now a part of Duluth.
It was
not until 1792 that the next trading post on the Wisconsin side of the
St. Louis River was opened by Jean Baptiste Cadotte for the North West
Company. When a fire destroyed the post in 1800, German emigrant Johann
Jakob Astor built a new one on the Minnesota river side. However,
business was very poor as the Indians stuck to the fur trade with their
well-known English and French partners. However, Astor was able to
persuade the United States Congress to ban foreigners from trading on
American soil, making trading profitable again for his American Fur
Company.
Ownership was clarified in two treaties between the
United States and the Ojibwe (Chippewa). The Treaty of Washington (1826)
and the Treaty of Fond du Lac (1847) allotted Indian reservations to the
Ojibwa.
The region attracted great interest when rumors of copper deposits
surfaced in the 1850s. Numerous settlers settled in the still nameless
city, although no agreement had yet been concluded with the Indian
peoples regarding the right to the mineral resources. In 1856 the
settlement was renamed Duluth and became the county seat.
At the
same time, newly built canals and locks between the Great Lakes allowed
large ships to enter Duluth. In addition, a road was also built
connecting Duluth to the Twin Cities. Numerous small suburbs formed
around the city.
When around 1857 the copper deposits became
scarce, the region concentrated on forestry. A US-wide financial crisis
caused three-quarters of the city's former residents to emigrate. In
1859, a scarlet fever epidemic further reduced the population.
In
the late 1860s, entrepreneur Jay Cooke persuaded the Lake Superior and
Mississippi Railroad to extend the railroad from St. Paul to Duluth. The
newly built railway line also opened up new transport routes for iron
ore mining north-west of Duluth. At the beginning of 1869 the population
was fourteen families, on Independence Day (July 4) there were already
3500 people.
In 1884, the son of German revolutionaries Fritz and
Mathilde Anneke, Percy Shelley Anneke, came to Duluth as auditor and
sales agent for the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company and bought into the
local Lake Superior Brewery. Fitgers was one of the most important
breweries in the Midwest until 1972, surviving Prohibition with soft
drinks and box promotion. In the 1930s, Fitgers was the first brewery to
sell canned beer in the Midwest. Fitgers has been a dining experience
hotel and National Historic Monument since 1984.
In the 20th century, the city continued to grow, so that the slopes
around the city were also settled. The port rose to become one of the
most important ports in the United States, overtaking the port of New
York City in terms of gross tonnage shipped. At that time, the city had
ten newspapers, six banks and an eleven-story skyscraper. In 1907, US
Steel announced plans to build a new steel mill in the region.
For much of the 20th century the city was an industrial port city with a
cement factory, a nail factory, wire rod mills and the steel mill.
During World War I, up to eight ships were worked on at the same time.
Numerous residents settled around the docks on the St. Louis River. To
this day, the area is known as Riverside. Other industrial projects were
realized during the Second World War.
On June 15, 1920, the
Duluth Lynching occurred in Duluth, in which a mob killed three black
members of a touring circus in Duluth on suspicion of raping and
murdering a local girl. The crime caused a nationwide sensation, and the
alleged victim was later found unharmed.
Population growth
continued during and after World War II. The population peaked in 1960
with 106,884 inhabitants.
Due to foreign competition, the steel
factory closed in 1971, which was a major setback for the city. Other
companies and the Air Force base followed with more closures. Within a
decade, the unemployment rate rose to 15 percent.
With the
weakening of the city's industrial core, economic activity shifted to
tourism. Downtown was redesigned; old riverside warehouses have been
converted into cafes, shops and restaurants and now form Canal Park, a
primarily tourism-oriented district.
Present
The
Duluth-Superior region has largely recovered from the economic crisis
and is now the center of northeastern Minnesota. It is also a major port
of shipment for coal, iron ore and agricultural products.
The city is located at the westernmost point of Lake Superior at 46°47′11″ north latitude and 92°06′01″ west longitude. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city's area is 80 square miles, making Duluth the second largest city in the state by area after Hibbing. Around 22.1 percent (50.0 km2) of this is water.
Duluth is subject to the continental climate. The cold and long
winters and cool summers gave the city the nickname "the air-conditioned
city". During the winter months, temperatures are often below the frost
line for weeks. On average, there is permanent snow cover from December
to March. Winter storms are favored by the city's location, which is
bordered on the one hand by the lake and on the other hand by the
mountain slopes to the north and west. Often these storms bring a foot
or more of snow into the city in a short period of time, while much less
snow falls farther inland.
Summers are cool and pleasant with
daytime temperatures averaging 20 to 30 degrees due to the lake's
easterly winds. Furthermore, Duluth is also influenced by the maritime
climate of Lake Superior, causing the seasons to occur significantly
later.
As of the 2010 census, Duluth was home to 86,265 people in 35,705
households. The population density was 489.6 people per square
kilometer. Statistically, 2.23 people lived in each of the 35,705
households.
The racial makeup of the population was 90.4 percent
White, 2.3 percent African American, 2.5 percent Native American, 1.5
percent Asian, and 0.3 percent from other races; 3.0 percent descended
from two or more ethnic groups. Regardless of ethnicity, 1.5 percent of
the population was of Hispanic or Latino descent.
18.5 percent of
the population was under 18 years old, 67.7 percent were between 18 and
64 and 13.8 percent were 65 years or older. 51.0 percent of the
population was female.
The median annual household income was
$41,116. Per capita income was $24,174. 21.4 percent of the residents
lived below the poverty line.
Emily Larson has been the mayor since January 4, 2016. She succeeded
Don Ness (DFL), who was elected the 37th mayor of Duluth in November
2007 and succeeded in 2008 from predecessor Herb W. Bergson, who did not
run for re-election.
Duluth is located in Minnesota's eighth
congressional district and was represented in the House of
Representatives by Jim Oberstar (DFL). Oberstar had been a member of the
House of Representatives since 1975 and was confirmed in office in 2006
with around 64 percent of the vote; he died in 2014. Since 2019, the 8th
congressional district has been represented by Duluth native Pete
Stauber.
Duluth is home to several higher education institutions. This also includes the University of Minnesota Duluth, with 10,500 students the second largest university in the University of Minnesota system.