Who’d have thunk?

 

Surprise! Surprise! Your loyal columnist is not the first person to wonder about Highway 61 and its environs.

Cathy Wurzer had a PBS TV series entitled Tales of the Road Highway 61 and a 2008 book of the same title resulted (Minnesota Historical Society). There she tells us many things I did not know about the road by our homes. Included was reference to a Depression Era WPA survey of best road trips listing the North Shore Road first. But focusing on Wurzer’s Tales has my corpuscles jumping (thank you Gopher Coach Wacker).

Still There. She identified 20 places of interest on the North Shore. Still there, and operating in some form, are Naniboujiu Lodge, the Chippewa City church (for tours), Grand Marais harbor, Lutsen, the motel in Ilgen City, Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors Lighthouse, and Kendall’s Smoke House in Knife River. The Stickney Store is now the Cross River Heritage Center. The Mattson Fish House up the shore from Split Rock still functions, operated by a descendant of the original Norwegian commercial fisherman.

Gooseberry Refectory, in the first state park along the North Shore, was Depression-era CCC built, opening the park in 1937 and the log Refectory building in 1939. That park remains the busiest along State Highway 61. After the current strobe light was installed in 1998, the Two Harbors lighthouse is now a B&B operated by the Lake County Historical Society.

Gone Mostly. The Outlaw Bridge at the Canadian border is long gone. Taconite Harbor’s houses have all been moved and the Great River Energy power plant was mothballed. The Hovland dock still stands, mostly, and is in line for rehabilitation as funding is found. The delivery ship America once docked there, I suspect, before the ship that served the Shore foundered near Isle Royale about 1929, (If you think you have problems, check on the America movie showing the delivery of a Grand Piano by rowboat to the shore where the America could not dock.)

The Colonial Dining Room and related Colonial Inn appeared in Forgotten Minnesota as of 2011. It closed in 1973 and was torn down this century. It was next door to the Spirit of Gitchee Gummi, no longer a lodging, that I infer was the store building, rehabbed and recently sold. All that is left of the Aztec Hotel and Cabinola Court is the Whispering Pines Motel in Ilgen City, near Silver Bay and Tettegouche State Park.

3M started on the North Shore!! On Crystal Bay near the Baptism River are the remains of an abortive corundum operation. The only problem was that the rock was not corundum, but a worthless, soft rock sold only once before the business went belly up. Several iterations later, including an attempt to make sandpaper that foundered on the moist air, Lucius Ordway moved the business to St. Paul and the rest is Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing history.

The Split Rock River pilings are still visible from 61 but have only aesthetic function these days. The Split Rock Trading Post burned in 1999; all that remains the wooden watch tower where tourists got a view of the lighthouse for a dime.

The Two Harbors High School was on the Register of Historic Places, but its building and WPA murals were torn down in 2008. The picture of the High School in Wurzer’s book looks substantial. I wonder why they tore it down?

Afterwards. Outlaw Bridge intrigued me. I have visited the spot on the Pigeon River, mostly to see the empty site of the original Ryden’s Border Store at the end of old 61. My intrigue was rewarded. Bridges between Canada and the United States required approval of both U.S. and Canadian governments. Rotary members on both sides deemed the ferry inadequate and the wait time for the governments’ approval too long. Thus, an unapproved wooden bridge was built by 1917 and the August dedication featured parades from both sides. (The Canadian parade won best in show with a pipe band and a mobile motor and tire repair shop.)

By 1930, the wooden bridge had decayed and was replaced by a steel truss bridge. There is no mention of any government approval for the replacement despite it being at the end of a U.S. Highway. It was torn down after the present 61 border crossing opened in 1964. What remains is a barrier, so you don’t drive into the Pigeon River. On the Canadian side there is a substantial building that was likely a store and lodging, but no evidence of its current function is visible from Minnesota.

At least White Sky Rock near Lutsen is likely still there for us to see, unchanged significantly, and the hike up to it is “moderate” and takes someone 24 minutes. You will have to read the book to know why the Rock is named White Sky and will be glad you did.

The foregoing are just few nuggets of the rich ore dug by Tales of the Road Highway 61. The remaining chapters cover “Duluth to St. Paul” and “Bluff Country.”

Perhaps you wondered about all this, or plan to visit all 20 spots. If you are curious, and a bit masochistic, after reading Tales, you can dip into 2015’s North Shore: A Natural History of Minnesota’s Superior Coast. Be prepared for real in-depth learning from its 1¼ inches of pages [University of Minnesota Press.) Mayhaps your loyal columnist will delve some for you. Or, if anyone has already read it, they could write a guest column of about 800 words.

Steve Aldrich is a retired Hennepin County lawyer, judge, and mediator, serving as judge from 1997-2010. He and his wife moved here in 2016. He likes to remember that he was a Minnesota Super Family Lawyer before being elected to the bench. Now he is among the most vulnerable to viruses. Steve really enjoys doing weddings, the one thing a retired judge can do without appointment by the Chief Justice. Bouquets and brickbats to the editor or stevealdrich41@gmail.com. Copyright Stephen C. Aldrich and News Herald, 2022