Dan Antion

Superior Street Doors

Welcome to Thursday Doors! This is a weekly challenge for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post each (or any) week and then share a link to your post in the comments below, anytime between 12:01 am Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American eastern time). If you like, you can add our badge to your post.

Our first day in Duluth had been an early day for both me and my brother. I had to get to the airport for a 6:20 am (eastern) flight, and Bruce had to drive three hours to the airport for my 8:20 (central) arrival. Then we drove three more hours to Duluth. When we arrived at the hotel, we joked that it was at the corner of North 3rd St and Road Closed. In fact, we came to appreciate the old joke about the four seasons in Minnesota – almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction. So many roads around our hotel were closed that when we looked for a nearby place to eat dinner, the map software showed a Mexican restaurant as being a 15-minute drive or a 4-minute walk.

After resting for a while, I decided to walk over to the park by the lake. Of course, I took my camera because given how cold it gets in Duluth, I expected most buildings to have doors.

One of the buildings I really liked was the old stone police station. As I was researching the history of the building, I ran across something I have to share:

“When Duluth became a city in 1870, one of the first things Mayor J. B. Culver did was appoint Robert S. D. Bruce as the Zenith City’s first chief of police on April 21. Bruce, a building contractor, had no law enforcement experience—but he was a “big burly Scotch-Canadian who could handle himself in any fray,” according to the Duluth Police Department’s 1920 self-published history of the force. On June 3 Culver entrusted him with the payroll for a group of men working on a construction project. Instead, Bruce absconded with the cash, never to be seen again. It didn’t get much better that first year: After a brief interim stint by George Berkelman Major J. L. Smith took over as chief. Duluthians considered Smith a “pompous individual who delighted in exhibiting his authority on any and every occasion.” They were done with him by December 14, when Berkelman took over again. It was December of 1870, and Duluth—just nine months old—was on its fourth chief of police.”

© Copyright X-Communication & Zenith City Press

As I continued reading, I came across the saddest words any of us involved with Thursday Doors ever hear, but there is a glimmer of hope at the end:

“The main entrance, in the furthest-right section, was originally accessed through raised-panel double doors. These have been replaced for more efficient and secure doors, but the originals are still stored within the building.”

© Copyright X-Communication & Zenith City Press

As you will see if you scroll through the gallery, “…been replaced for more efficient and secure doors…” is a phrase that can be applied to the entrances of a lot of buildings on Superior St. Thank you for visiting, and if you’re leaving a link to your doors, thank you for participating. I hope you have a great rest of the week.

The barriers and “Road Closed” sign is just what you want to see at the end of a long journey. It’s OK, the parking lot was in the rear.
There are a lot of hills in Duluth. Most lead down to the lake.
I love old painted ads on the sides of buildings. Even when faded, they tell a story.
There are a number of breweries in Duluth. If we return, we’ll check this one out.
The building’s windows have been replaced with “more efficient” models, as has the corner door, but it’s still worth including.
Bell Bank has done a great job of maintaining what remains of the Temple Opera Block building (see the historic photo).
The main entrance of the opera house used to be on this side street.
The Temple Opera Block and Temple Opera House photographed between 1890 and 1895. (Image: Duluth Public Library)
Doors and windows all replaced, but the brickwork helps us imagine what was there.
The police building.
Behind the flowers s the door to the police building. Sorry I didn’t get a better picture.
I think this is the old City Hall. It’s built in the same style as the police building.
The Rathsheller. A premium cocktail lounge.
A different take on the stable doors.
Probably not original but it’s better looking than aluminum and glass.
There is a sign, perhaps behind the van, pointing to the Rathsheller. I had to check it out.
I had to climb out into a flower garden in the lakefront park to get this photo. This is the back of the police building. Those would have been the stable doors.

If you are in a hurry and don’t wish to scroll through the comments, click to Jump to the comment form.

132 comments

    • Arched doors are my favorites, Pat. I like that they did something to keep them interesting. The hill that the station was built on allowed it to have two basement levels. In addition to stables, there was a coal-fired boiler to provide heat. Between coal dust and manure, a lot of waste flowed out of this side of the building.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    • Thanks Sherry. In a harsh climate, I guess it’s more important to save energy and try to keep the wind and the cold out. I am glad that they saved the original doors. Thanks for another look at the cemetery. The mausoleums are so stately.

      Like

      Reply

    • It’s good to see you, Frank. I love stone and brick buildings. My brother told me that joke while were were taking what seemed like an endless series of detours while trying to get back to our hotel. We are doing well. I hope you are, too.

      Like

      Reply

  22. Doors galore this week! And windows! I do like the stable doors, but I LOVE those three little windows on the first level of the opera house. Brickwork and stonework is outstanding. I like the look of the red sandstone.

    Am I crazy (well, that’s a silly question!) or were the top three floors removed from the temple opera house? Maybe . I’m mixing up buildings.

    Great photos Dan. And a really interesting history that had me shaking my head and laughing.
    Ginger

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  23. The story goes in our town that one of the buildings downtown was 6 stories tall ( I believe that’s the number) and they tore down several stories to save on taxes. Now it’s only 3 stories and there’s an ordinance that no building can be more than 3 stories high. Your Bell/Opera reminded me of that. Nice downtown in Duluth!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • That’s funny. I’m familiar with adding onto a building, but this is the first time I remember seeing a building be made smaller, unless it was the result of a fire. The downtown area was nice to walk through, but the draw is the lake shore walk, two blocks to the east.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  26. I had to laugh at the seasons in Minnesota! Old painted ads on buildings are so lovely. Interesting that here in my town, new business owners have painted over murals that were on recently sold buildings, but they don’t touch the old ads. I wonder if it’s an ordinance or something. What I love is the round windows on the Temple Opera building–so pretty!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Thanks Gwen. When I visit a new place, I like to get photos of the ordinary doors in town. I’m glad some of the original architecture was preserved/reused. I wish they had kept the original doors, but I understand.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  29. Based on your telling of early Duluth police chiefs the building must have had a spinning door. Not sure if that one is stored somewhere in the building. Seeing the painted wall for Blacklist Brewing took me to there web site. It lists the hours of the establishment and whether or not there is axe throwing on a given day. Nothing on the origin of the brewery name. Speculation leads to the theory that if you have an axe-y-dent you get blacklisted. And Skippy will chop er cut your drinks… Good choice on visiting the Rathskeller.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Thanks John. “Here’s a big bag of money. Take it out to the men waiting to be paid.” I guess it was too much of a temptation. He’s probably blacklisted for eternity.

      Axe throwing and alcohol – what could go wrong?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  30. Is that kinda like keeping the old grandmother cooped up in the back room down the hall, for history’s sake? 🤨These old buildings bring to mind days of Prohibition, Al Capone and playing stick ball in the streets.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I wish I knew more about that brewery. We couldn’t visit every brewery, we might have to go back 😏

      I had to change my theme a couple weeks ago. The old one was causing problems with the block editor and was no longer being updated.

      I like your doors today, especially the one in Texas.

      Like

      Reply

    • I was happy to find the old photo, Teagan but I had to make sure it really was the same building. The old one was magnificent. I’m glad the preserved as much as they did, but…

      We ran into so much construction near our hotel. At least if we go back next year, most of it will be done.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  41. Modern and efficient usually means absolutely no charm. What a shame that people take the history out of such incredible buildings with such casualness. So much has been lost in the name of modern.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  46. Wow. To me, these buildings look very stern. That opera house makes me cross-eyed; it’s hard to know where to look! These sure have more personality than the more modern buildings hovering about.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  54. Hi Dan – Duluth looks an interesting ‘frontier town’ … and I love that story about the police chiefs – various! It’s great the buildings are still there, even if adapted … that Blacklist Brewing Co could well have a very interesting black story. While the buildings are all imposing – setting the standard for the decades ahead. You certainly had an early start … and I love the seasons, and then roads closed! Cheers Hilary

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • It was an interesting city, Hilary. My brother had been there before, and he suggested we go there. I’d be happy to go back, there were things we didn’t see, and things we couldn’t do due to Covid.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  55. Hi Dan – enjoyed your street shots and rich photos with history and character
    And now I will think of this post when I see the old Richmond Virginia buildings that have all those doors replaced for efficiency and security !
    My favorite image form the post was #11 of the 17
    The flower baskets and the way tee door is there with the structure – so appealing my way
    ☀️

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  61. Stable doors for the win! I fear “replaced with efficient and secure doors” is a common unspoken truth for most old buildings. At least they kept the doors and thought to inform.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Add your thoughts or join the discussion. One relevant link is OK, more require moderation. Markdown is supported.

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.