Minnesota Point, also known as the Park Point

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, United States; is a long, narrow

sand spit A spit (cognate with the word for a rotisserie bar) or sandspit is a deposition bar or beach landform off coasts or lake shores. It develops in places where re-entrance occurs, such as at a cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drif ...

that extends out from the Canal Park tourist recreation-oriented district of the city of Duluth. The Point separates

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

from

Superior Bay Superior Bay is a narrow inlet of Lake Superior along the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It is long and wide. A small strait connects it to the Saint Louis Bay to the west, into which the Saint Louis River empties. Superior Bay is located be ...

and the Duluth Harbor Basin. South Lake Avenue / Minnesota Avenue serves as a main route in the community. Near the end of Minnesota Point is a small airport, Sky Harbor Airport. Beyond the airport, approximately 3/4 mile, is an old growth red and white pine forest. Within the forest is a

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, rec ...

designated area, the ''Minnesota Point Pine Forest Scientific and Natural Area'', which encompasses 18 acres. Minnesota Point is about 7 miles long, and when included with adjacent Wisconsin Point, which extends 3 miles out from the city of

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, totals 10 miles.

History

Due to the short and easy portage across Minnesota Point, the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

name for the city of Duluth is ''Onigamiinsing'' ("at the little portage"). In the 1850s, the Saint Louis River was established as the border between neighboring states Minnesota and Wisconsin and the two ports, Duluth (Minnesota) and Superior (Wisconsin), became fierce economic competitors for shipping traffic off of Lake Superior. As commercial traffic on the lake increased with the completion of the Sault Ste Marie canal connecting Lake Superior to Lake Michigan, Congress appropriated the funds to build a lighthouse on the narrow opening in Minnesota Point, known as Superior Entry. The Minnesota Point Light, built between 1855 and 1858, was the first to use RH Barret's Fifth Order Fresnel lamp and Barret became the station's first lighthouse keeper, succeeded in 1861 by Samuel Stewart Palmer. Affectionately known as "The Old Standby", this lighthouse is now an abandoned ruin listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. Since the digging of the

Duluth Ship Canal The Duluth Ship Canal is an artificial canal cut through Minnesota Point, providing direct access to Duluth, Minnesota, Duluth harbor from Lake Superior. Begun privately in 1871, it was put under federal supervision and maintenance several years ...

in 1870–1871, Minnesota Point is technically an island, connected to the rest of Duluth since 1905 by the

Aerial Lift Bridge The Aerial Lift Bridge, earlier known as the Aerial Bridge or Aerial Ferry Bridge, is a landmark in the port city of Duluth, Minnesota. The span began life in 1905 as the United States' first transporter bridge: Only one other was ever construc ...

. Beginning in 2023, North Shore LS LLC (managed by Kathy Cargill, member of the

Cargill family The Cargill family, also known as the Cargill-MacMillan family, refers to the multi-generational descendants of the American business executive William Wallace Cargill (December 15, 1844 – October 17, 1909) and his son-in-law John H. MacMil ...

) began purchasing and renovating properties located on Minnesota Point, owning twenty properties by March 2024. Cargill, in an interview with the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

stated that her intentions were to beautify and modernize the neighborhood, including building amenities such as a coffee shop and a complex for pickleball, basketball and street hockey. However, when residents, including Duluth mayor Roger Reinert, asked Cargill to provide details for her plans for Park Point, she did not respond. After local pushback, Cargill eventually cancelled her development plans, saying Reinert "peed in his Cheerios right there, and definitely I'm not going to do anything to benefit that community."

Adjacent neighborhoods

* Canal Park and

Downtown Duluth The downtown of Duluth, Minnesota, United States, is situated between Mesaba Avenue ( Highway 194) and 4th Avenue East; and located on Michigan, Superior, First, Second, and Third streets. The downtown area is home to a number of the city's cul ...

– to the immediate north

Notes

External links

City of Duluth websiteCity map of neighborhoods
(PDF)
History of the Minnesota Point Lighthouse
{{Coord, 46, 44, 29, N, 92, 03, 41, W, display=title, region:US-MN_type:landmark_source:dewiki Duluth–Superior metropolitan area Neighborhoods in Duluth, Minnesota Peninsulas of Minnesota Geography of Duluth, Minnesota Spits of the United States Minnesota populated places on Lake Superior Duluth, Minnesota

History

Adjacent neighborhoods

See also

Notes

External links