Minnesota Point: Magnificent Desolation

Postcard featuring Minnesota Point before the Canal.

While there were no church buildings or official churches chartered in Duluth in the 1860s, it is certain that there were Christians who gathered in some of the homes in this area. One such house gathering took place in the home of Luke Marvin, who arrived in Duluth in 1861, appointed by the newly elected President Lincoln to serve as registrar in the U.S. Land Office.

Mrs. Marvin's sewing machine, which may have been the first sewing machine here, served as the pulpit for Reverend William R. Higgins, pastor of the Presbyterian church in Superior across the bay. In the summer he would row across the bay each Sunday afternoon, and in winter would walk across on the ice.

The two cities eventually became nicknamed the Twin Ports, but their rivalry hasn't always been friendly. The locks at Sioux St. Marie were completed in 1855, thereby opening the seven seas to to Lake Superior exporters and importers. Because Minnesota Point jutted out seven miles from the Minnesota side, Superior had the early advantage, creating a safe harbor within the region of the point's tip. This is where the City of Superior initially began to develop.

Their rivals, however, conceived a way to divert incoming ships to the Minnesota ports. They would dig a channel that ships could pass through without having to go all the way around. Once the plan was conceived, leaders on the Wisconsin side recognized the financial impact this would have if successful. They commissioned a group to travel the south to acquire armaments that they might dissuade the Duluths from their intentions. In response, nearly every able bodied Duluth worked 24 hours a day to complete the channel before these armed adversaries returned.

OK, I don't know what is fact and what is tall tale, but I do know that the visionaries who believed it would have a positive economic impact for Duluth were proven correct.

The photos here on this page (except the post card of Minnesota Point before the canal was dug) show the effects of wind, weather, water and waves and temperatures below zero. I'm guessing that for Rev. Higgins some of those blustery Sunday afternoon trips to Duluth presented quite a formidable challenge.