A conversation with author Arnold Alanen.
Reserve Mining opened its taconite processing plant in 1955. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society
Listen to the interview:
Arnold R. Alanen was born and raised in Minnesota and is professor emeritus of planning and landscape architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has written several books about familiar and interesting places, including Morgan Park, Duluth, U.S. Steel, and the Forging of a Company Town and Finns in Minnesota.
As someone who’s lived next to the North Shore of Lake Superior and its Scenic Route for a long time, I read his book with great interest. I had the pleasure of talking with Alanen and getting permission to present some of the fascinating photos that bring the book to life. In this 14-minute conversation, he tells us about the “outlaw bridge,” Norwegian fishermen, early environmentalists, and the community spirit that helped the region retain and share its rich heritage.
Horse-drawn sleighs and coaches began making mail deliveries and carrying passengers between Two Harbors and Grand Marais in late 1899. Courtesy of Lake County Historical Society.
Early twentieth-century travelers who braved the North Shore trail faced challenges during the spring snowmelt and periods of heavy rainfall. Courtesy of Lake County Historical Society.
Anishinaabe members of the Grand Portage Band gathered next to the annuities(“goods”) they acquired from the nearby U.S. government warehouse in June 1889. On the right is Indian Agent M. A. Leahy. Photograph by George A. Newton. Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections, University of Minnesota Duluth. S2381 George A. Newton photographs.
Volunteers clear the grounds of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church during the 1950s. The view is looking southward toward Lake Superior. The property is now owned and managed by the Cook County Historical Society.
The major skiing facilities now evident at Lutsen began with two downhill runs and rope tows during the 1950s.
A 1937 Ford panel truck powered the Sawtooth Mountain Ski Slide’s tow when it opened in early 1950.An electric motor soon replaced the vehicle. Courtesy of Cook County Historical Society.
Consolidated Papers’s log ramp at Sugarloaf Cove, 1950s or 1960s. The logs were towed by a tugboat to Ashland, then shipped by rail to Wisconsin paper mills. Courtesy of Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center.
A group of young men from CCC-ID Camp S-62 pose after completing their first day of work at Grand Portage on 7 September 1936. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.
The D&IR roundhouse, by the early 1900s, had numerous locomotive bays grouped around a central turntable. Each locomotive, when undergoing inspection and repair, was placed in a separate bay and lined up under a smokestack that projected through the roundhouse roof. Courtesy of Lake County Historical Society.
Women railroad workers in Two Harbors, who replaced many of the men who were serving in the armed forces during World War II. Courtesy of Lake County Historical Society.
Walter Sve removes a herring from one of his nets in 2014. Photo by Arnold Alanen.
Gertrude and Alphonse Anderson smoke herring along the Lake Superior shoreline, circa1940s. Courtesy of Lake Superior Commercial Fishing Museum.
When a Mesabi Range ore train approached Taconite Harbor, its descent to Lake Superior was slowed by the curvature or “looping” of the tracks. After the taconite pellets had been emptied into a Great Lakes ore carrier, the train completed a full circle and returned to Hoyt Lakes.
