Zenith City on Tap – Duluth’s Aerial Transfer Bridge

1905–1929

When Duluthians finally bridged the 1871 ship canal in 1905, they created one of the most innovative structures in the world. An aerial transfer bridge, it ferried passengers back and forth across the canal in a gondola car. The bridge was an immediate success and served to not only help the residents of Park Point connect with the rest of Duluth but also dramatically increased Minnesota Point’s popularity as Duluth’s summertime playground. But by 1925, thanks to the automobile, the bridge was obsolete. Years of battling in city council chambers resulted in a conversion, not demolition.

In this presentation, adapted from Crossing the Canal: An Illustrated History of Duluth’s Aerial Bridge, Zenith City’s Tony Dierckins covers the entire life of the ariel bridge: The effort to build it, the incidents and accidents that defined it, and its conversion into today’s Aerial Lift Bridge.

Zenith City on Tap presentations are scheduled for every Wednesday in May and held in Glensheen’s lower level recreation room.

 Presentations will be held in Glensheen’s Amusement Room in the lower level of the mansion. Guests will enter through the mansion’s front door.

Doors open at 6:45 p.m.
Happy half hour from 7–7:30.
Speakers begin at 7:30.