Lake County Past: Oct. 1

Talk about it

From Lake County newspaper archives.

100 years ago, 1910

Little doubt exists in the minds of Duluth vesselmen but that all previous year’s records for ore shipments down the lakes will be broken by the season of 1910 with over 42,000,000 tons, a grand total. “You can state without much fear of going wrong that the iron ore movement on the lakes this year will exceed last season by a considerable margin” according to a well known Duluth shipper.

Heavy party

An exchange says they have invented a new kind of social amusement. It is call-ed an avoirdupois party. All the girls are weighed and the weight of each is written on a piece of paper and put into a hat. The young men draw and then must go to supper with the girl whose weight he draws and must pay for the supper at one cent per pound. It is a case of where a girl is expected to be worth her weight in copper.

75 years ago, 1935

National Fire Prevention week kicks off Oct. 6th with a few reminders:

- Beware of oily rags and clothes.

- Be careful with ashes.

- Don’t fill a gasoline stove in a closed room.

- Don’t string electrical wires over nails, iron pipes or metal.

- Don’t put a penny in the fuse box, put it in the bank.

50 years ago, 1960

A two-day celebration of the 45th anniversary for Moose Lodge 1463 begins Saturday and will include the induction of 50 candidates, speakers, and a dinner for members, according to Richard Brinkema, lodge governor. The Two Harbors chapter received its charter Oct. 9, 1915.

Moving in

For those who see little future for Two Harbors, the fact that between 75 to 100 families wish to move here immediately must come as a shock. Nonetheless Boeing Airplane Company is seeking housing for those numbers of their employees in order to run the government’s new Bomarc base at French River. French River is just as close to Duluth as Two Harbors but it seems that the Boeing people would rather see their people here.

Update: Yes, Clover Valley was once a home for 16,000-pound anti-aircraft missiles. There were 28 Boeing-produced Bomarc missiles at the French River Air Base. Each one had about half the explosive power of the World War II nuclear bombs. The missiles, in above-ground structures that resembled barns, were removed in 1971.

25 years ago, 1985

Excavating in the area at Agate Bay in front of the new boat ramps was delayed a bit last Wednesday when the digger equipment tilted and ended up submerged. It took a couple of days to rescue the machinery from its watery resting place.

Submarine Superior

With the use of the Johnson Sea-Link II deep water submersible, researcher Steve Eisenreich and several researchers were the first humans to descend 1,300 feet to the bottom of Lake Superior. It was the first time a deep-water submersible was used in a Great Lake, finding large number of particles and organisms near the bottom.

Want more history? The Lake County Historical Society is a good place to start. It’s at the Depot in Two Harbors, 834-4898 or visit lakecountyhistoricalsociety.org. There’s also the Bay Area Historical Society in Silver Bay, 226-4534; the Finland Minnesota Historical Society, 353-7380 or 353-7550; and the Historical Committee of the Isabella Community Council, 323-7644.

Tags: two harbors, lake county past, community