Zenith City on Tap: Before the Bridge

Before the Bridge: How Duluthians Crossed the Canal from 1871–1905

This month’s Zenith City on Tap has Zenith City Online publisher Tony Dierckins presenting “Before the Bridge: How Duluthians Crossed the Canal from 1871–1905.”  The Aerial Lift Bridge is the undisputed icon of Duluth, but while the Zenith City dug its ship canal in 1871, it wasn’t until 1905 that a permanent bridge spanned the canal’s piers—a transfer or “ferry” bridge, the first ever built in North America and the only steel-girded transfer bridge ever built. 

How did we cross the canal before the bridge, and how did we end up with a transfer bridge? Discover this and more, including the many myths and legends surrounding the canal dig, Superior’s effort to close the canal, the canal’s connection to Boeing Airlines and the Golden Gate Bridge, early ideas—including a tunnel—for bridging the canal, and the struggle to build Duluth’s Aerial Transfer Bridge, which was converted into today’s Aerial Lift Bridge in 1930. 

What is Zenith City on Tap?

The event is a modification on the popular “TED Talk” style presentation; each speaker tackles the topic in just fifteen minutes. 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.

Beer and wine are available for purchase.