By Dwight Morrison on Mar 25, 2017 at 11:00 p.m.
There is a need in the St. Louis River corridor for viable public attractions that benefit Duluth’s tourist industry. The city is investing in the infrastructure of western Duluth and the St. Louis corridor, including new visitor destinations. Duluth just had its best tourist year in history, with more than $11 million in earnings (“Tourism hits new high,” March 3).
But an existing tourist attraction, the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad, or LS&MRR, is in danger of being destroyed. This “heritage railroad” follows the original rail route into Duluth, dating back to the 1800s. It is a western Duluth attraction that needs to be protect and expanded, not destroyed.
But the environmental cleanup of the U.S. Steel site, expected to begin next year, could eliminate the LS&MRR’s tracks. It’s important that doesn’t happen, that this historic rail route into Duluth from the south is preserved for future visitors.
I recently visited the Minnesota Transportation Museum in St. Paul. I was able to locate the original 1870 maps of this historic train and confirm that the LS&MRR was the first train that brought tourists to Duluth. This happened on June 24, 1870.
Today’s tourist train follows the exact same route hurriedly built by Jay Cooke along the shore of the St. Louis River in 1869. The construction completed freight and passenger service between Duluth and Minneapolis.
My visit to the Jackson Street Roundhouse Railroad Museum, a part of the Minnesota Transportation Museum, further verified the historic accuracy of this original rail route into Duluth. The train ride today is where tourists and others learn about — and learn to appreciate — this history of Northeastern Minnesota and how Duluth became an economic power at the head of the lakes.
After returning home, an Internet search of “heritage railroads” found LS&MRR listed under the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Register of Historic Places. I found this on the National Park Service website.
It is amazing that western Duluth successfully has preserved a great heritage railroad and a route for our children and grandchildren. Credit goes to the volunteers and others with the nonprofit Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad.
Dwight Morrison of Duluth is a retired math and science teacher who has been active with trail development in Duluth for nearly 50 years, including the Western Waterfront Trail. He is cochairman of the Wheels on Trails Organization, a disability trails group; is a past member of the Minnesota Park and Trails Legacy Committee; and has been a member of the Friends of Western Duluth Parks and Trails, People with Disabilities for Change, and the St. Louis River Alliance.
Original Article can be found on the Duluth News Tribune website.
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