The Recent Past: A legacy from the white pine logging boom
[Much of this information is from "Investigations at Grassy Point, Duluth, Minnesota. A report to
the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources by Susan C. Mulholland, Grayson E. Larimer and
Patrick Labadie, May 1995]
Early maps of Duluth document the presence of sawmills at Grassy Point as early as 1890.
Lumber was milled here for several decades before the site was abandoned. Tons of sawmill
waste (ends, slabs, small pieces, sawdust and woodchips) were left to slowly settle into the
wetland and disappear.
Little decomposition of this enormous volume of wood occurred over the intervening years and
the waste wood still sits in the wetland. Some wood was covered by sediment and vegetation. In
other places, bleached wood is exposed in large areas at the surface or just below the surface of
the water.
Duluth Sawmills and the Timber Industry
This brief overview of historic timber procurement in northeastern Minnesota is primarily
based on timber type (white, red pine, etc.), rather than timber transport methods (river, railroad,
etc.) in regards to the technology and development in the region.
The first phase of white pine logging in Minnesota ran from approximately 1840 through
1870 (Belthius, 1964). Many small sawmills were
operating throughout the state during that
time. Logging technology advanced with the increased demand for timber products.
By approximately 1870 and running through roughly 1910, the logging industry had
reached its pinnacle (Larson,
1949). This is referred to as the second phase of the logging
industry. Fewer, but much larger and more efficient, sawmills were operating and often produced
several million board feet of pine annually. At that time the city of Duluth helped provide a
growing nation with lumber as railroads and rivers brought lumber to
Duluth (Ryan, 1976).
Much of this lumber was then shipped eastward by the burgeoning shipping industry. This era of
heavy logging depleted the regions' accessible pine stands significantly. The number of large
sawmills had dropped profoundly to only a small handful by 1910.
A third logging phase began at approximately this time in northeastern Minnesota (W.
Okstad, pers. com.) The lumber industry and their associated sawmills then were primarily of the
type associated with 'general forest products'. This referred to the use of cedar, popple, aspen
and spruce rather than red and white pine, as the source material for production. Fewer in
number, these sawmills were often specialized to the point where posts, poles, ties, pulpwood
and shingles were manufactured from logs all at a single sawmill (Larson, 1949 and Okstad,
1982). It was during this third phase in the timber industry when the 1918 Cloquet Fires struck
(Carroll and Raiter, 1990).
Grassy Point was an attractive location for sawmills due to the access for shipping. The site may
have been occupied before 1890, but references to locations of mills from that time are vague and
cannot be pinpointed to the Grassy Point site. The historical investigation found that the Huntress
and Brown Co. operated a sawmill at Grassy Point in 1890. In 1893 a planer and sawmill were
present on the site. The Virginia and Rainy Lake Co. operated a mill at Grassy Point until 1913.
The Lesure Lumber Wharf Co. operated docks for the various lumber companies in the area from
1890-1915. In 1918 the Cloquet Fires burned through the area, likely ending any commercial
activity still occurring at the site. Later air photos show the remains of abandoned buildings and
little or no other activity.
Grassy Point Shipwrecks
When the fires of 1918 burned through the region, several ships were known to have been in
service at the Grassy Point docks. Six scows, a dredge and three tugboats likely remain sunken
near the site. The scows were constructed between 1883 and 1913 and were owned by the
Northern Dredge and Dock Company of Duluth. The steam dipper dredge was a vessel called
the DULUTH. It was constructed in 1872 and was likely also owned by the Northern Dredge
and Dock Company of Duluth.
Three tugs are reported to have burned at Grassy Point during the 1918 fires. The first is the
screw tug boat called the MENTOR. She was built in 1868 in Cleveland, Ohio and was used
mainly for towing. She had been brought to Duluth in 1905. At the time of the fire she was part
of the Northern Dredge and Dock Company fleet of Duluth.
The second of the three tugs is the JOHN JEFFERY Jr., also a screw tug boat. Built in Buffalo,
New York in 1868 as the AGATE, she was working in Duluth by 1869-1870. In 1884 she was
rebuilt and renamed the JOHN McKAY Jr. and renamed again in 1889 or 1890 as the JOHN
JEFFERY Jr., who owned her at the time of the fire. It is believed that she was the very first tug,
along with the tug AMETHYST, in the Duluth-Superior harbor. Due to her historic significance in
the development of the Twin Ports, her remains may be of local historical significance.
The third tug to have burned in the 1918 fires was the screw tug the ELLA G. STONE. Built in
1881 as the E.L. MASON, she was rechristened the ELLA G. STONE in 1883. She served the
Two Harbors, Minnesota area until 1898 when she was sold to the Duluth Based William
Brothers. ELLA G. STONE was a vessel of particular significance at Two Harbors where she was
used to bring construction materials for erection of the ore docks. She later assisted ships loading
at those same docks. In 1907 she was purchased by the Northern Dredge and Dock Company
and joined their fleet until the 1918 fires. General towing was the tugs' primary function.
The specific functions of the ten vessels are not known at this time. It is assumed that the
vessels, all but one of which was owned by the Northern Dredge and Dock Company, were
associated with towing vessels and dredging or transporting dredge spoil in the Duluth-Superior
harbor. At the time of the fire, all of the vessels were in 'ordinary or out of service'. It appears
that much of the salvageable equipment was removed from the vessels sometime after the fire, so
the historical significance of the vessels has diminished.
Habitat restoration work has focused on areas well removed from the remains of the
sawmill foundations and the site where the docks once existed. While the precise locations of the
ten sunken ships are unknown, it is likely that any remains would be located near the site once
occupied by the docks. The historical investigation concluded that the excavation of wood waste
in the areas away from the sawmill foundations and dock areas would not likely affect any
significant historical remains. Potential impacts would also likely be reduced by removing the
wood during the winter from a land-based operation rather than a marine-based dredge.
During the excavation of the site in March of 1996, three glass bottles and two leather
horse harness pieces were unearthed. All these objects were turned over to the St. Louis County
Historical Society for evaluation.
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