Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Duluth

DULUTH, a city, port of entry, and county-seat of St. Louis co., Minn.; at the head of Lake Superior and the mouth of the St. Louis river. It is the terminus of several important railway systems, including the Northern Pacific, the Chicago and Northwestern, and the Great Northern. It has a splendid harbor on St. Louis bay, extending nine miles into the lake and inclosed by natural breakwaters.

The public buildings are noticeable for their beauty and costliness. The Federal buildings are among the finest in the West. Other notable structures are the High School, City Hall, Chamber of Commerce, Lyceum Theater, Public Library, State Normal School, U. S. Fisheries buildings. Besides these there are over 60 churches, many of which are very ornate in construction and equipment.

The port is connected by steamer lines with all important points on the Great Lakes, and has a very large commerce in coal, iron, grain, and lumber. Trade is greatly facilitated by the Sault Ste. Marie canal, whose traffic now exceeds that of the Suez canal. The imports in the fiscal year 1920 amounted to $17,082,468 and the exports to $34,360,373.

Although pre-eminently a commercial city, Duluth has important manufactures. The principal articles of manufacture were lumber, iron and steel. Other important industrial plants were blast furnaces, stove factories, and railroad car shops. There are valuable quarries of granite, trap, slate, and sandstone near by, and the fisheries of the vicinity are quite important.

In 1919 Duluth had 4 National banks with a capital of $500,000, and several State and private banks, besides a considerable number of loan and trust companies, and building and loan associations.

History.—In May, 1869, the site of the

city was a forest; the old Duluth, at that time situated on Minnesota Point, consisted of a few cabins. The place is named after Captain Du Lhut, a French traveler, who visited it and built a hut in 1670. It was chartered as a city in 1869, and was later enlarged by the annexation of the suburbs, Lake Side and West Duluth. Pop. (1910) 78,466; (1920) 98,917.