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Place Name
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Duluth
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Pronunciation
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duh-LOOTH
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Place Status (Type)
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city
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Capital Of
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St. Louis County
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Population
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85,493 (1990)
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Location
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St. Louis County, Minnesota (MN), United States, North America
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Latitude
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46°46'N
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Longitude
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92°07'W
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Duluth
(duh-LOOTH), city (1990 pop. 85,493),  St. Louis
co., NE Minn., on St. Louis Bay, at W end of L. Superior,
140 mi/225 km NNE of Minneapolis, opposite
Superior, Wis.; 46°46'N 92°07'W. Westernmost port in Great
Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway Navigation system. A commercial, industrial,
and cultural center of N Minn., as well as a major port on the Great
Lakes, convention center, and the gateway to resort region to N. Large
amounts of grain, iron ore (especially taconite), oil, and bulk cargo
are shipped on lake freighters and ocean vessels. Fish processing,
grain elevator services, specialty fabricating; steel, concrete,
piping, chemical lime, paper, hand tools, consumer goods. Tourism is
important, and the military air-defense installation at Duluth
International Airport is valuable to the economy. Native Americans were
found here in the 1670s by the early explorers and fur traders, and
included the Sieur Duluth (for whom the city was named). Permanent
settlement began c.1852. Built largely on rocky bluffs
overlooking the lake, the city was at first a trade and shipping center
for timber. Discovery of iron (1865) in the Mesabi range made it the
chief shipping point for ore for the nation's steel mills. With the
opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway (1959), it became one of the leading
ports on the Great Lakes for the export of grain. It is the seat of the
Col. of St. Scholastica, the Duluth Institute of Technology, and a
branch of the Univ. of Minnesota. It has a symphony orchestra, a
community theater, various museums, including L. Superior Maritime
Mus., and the St. Louis County Heritage and Arts Center. Wade Municipal
Stadium in SW. Of interest are the large Aerial Lift Bridge, which
dominates skyline (crosses harbor entrance), linking the city to
7 mi/11.3 km of sand beach on Park Point
(Minnesota Ave.); the Skyline Parkway, winding along escarpment above
the city for 15 mi/24 km; Scenic State Highway
61 follows lakeshore NE to Thunder Bay, Ontario, also called the North
Shore drive; and Leif Erikson Park on lake shore. Jay Cooke State Park
to SW; Cloquet Valley State Forest to N; Spirit Mt. Ski Area to SW;
Fond du Lac Indian Reservation to W. Inc. 1870.
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