This is Northlandia: a place to bring your curiosity, because you will find curiosities. In this series, the News Tribune celebrates the region's distinctive people, places and history. Discover the extraordinary stories that you just might miss if you're not in the right place, at the right time, ready to step off the beaten path with no rush to return.
In a recent journal article about the Du Luth Stone, a Minnesota State Preservation Office archeologist wrote, "There is a greater likelihood of the inscription being authentic than not.”
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The small free sledding festival has come a long way.
Walter Eldot's article exposed terrible living conditions — from men sleeping on the bathroom floor to a tuberculosis outbreak. But it spurred dramatic improvements and updates to the shelter.
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Since the 1960s, the CHS grain elevator in Superior has hosted holiday lights strung from a flagpole in a tree-like shape. For Blatnik Bridge regulars, there's no more visible sign of the season.
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Laura Goewey Carlson revives vintage dolls, discovering a darkness within them.
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Taken from Duluth by the St. Paul Dispatch in 1896, the steam whistle would sound “sharp, short toots if returns favor” the paper's preferred candidate and "a long, dismal wail" if they didn't.
Steve Solkela plays over 250 shows a year, appearing everywhere from ethnic festivals to arcades and peppering his sets with zingers. Just about the only thing he doesn't do is "dinner music."
Kent Nyberg shares tales of his grandfather Eric Enstrom, and his famous photograph "Grace."
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Gus Hall, born Arvo Kusta Halberg in the unincorporated community to Finnish immigrants, was general secretary of the U.S. Communist Party from 1959 until his death in 2000.
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Authors Kelly Florence and Meg Hafdahl, who formed their lifelong connection in Duluth, have included the city in a new book called "Travels of Terror."
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For the past several months, Gilbert community members posted photos of new lawn decorations they were provided by a mysterious 'gnome lady.'
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A recent rezoning request to return the site to a residential classification, which it held until 2016, angered people online.
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