It’s just off Railroad Street, between Bayfront Park and the Depot.
See the dark, square opening under the freeway? Go in there.
Of course, I should point out that homeless people have been known to camp out there, and I think there was a body found there a few years ago, so, you know, proceed with caution and in daylight.
Resol
I hope that someone has been regularly visiting the graveyard with a camera for the last 15 years or so.
I’ve always hoped to someday see a thick coffee table book with full color prints of graffiti graveyard murals long painted over.
I suppose bringing in good light for photos would be difficult, and there’s no way you could capture the true ‘hypodermic needle meets guerrilla art’ nature of the place.
FYI – The graveyard is a great place to bring out-of-town guests…like your parents.
dreamspark
This is a cool video.
rediguana
I believe that is the location where an elderly homeless couple were brutally murdered a few years back. As usually happens with attacks on the homeless, the perpetrator(s) were never found.
Aside from that gruesome detail, it is a really cool place, home to some of the best guerilla art in the region.
Thanks for sharing the video. I personally photographed the graveyard on a couple occasions while I was living in Duluth. In fact one of the photos is the most popular item I have on Flickr.
AAAEROSOL
You can tell who the respected artists are based on nobody bombing over their piece. There are some that been down there for a decade that nobody will touch. I once fell into the “hepatitis water” that runs through the graveyard. I was slowly moving rock to rock trying to cross to get in … it was bad. You can only imagine how many paint cans, needles, mutilated deer there are in the water. Let it be a warning to all new who enter. My skin burned for a week after.
Good question, Shane. I think the major repairs to I-35 are being done farther southwest. The section from Fifth Avenue West to 26th Avenue East is scheduled for pavement repair this summer, but I don’t think that will affect Graffiti Graveyard. Of course, I’m no expert.
EvilResident
I went down there once with a couple friends a few years ago. It was damn scary. There was somebody moving around down there way at the far end on the ground, so we didn’t venture in as far as I would have liked, and I don’t think I’d ever work up the courage to go back.
I remember that deer carcass, and how someone had painted it’s toe nails green. I also remember an amazing portrait of Dick Tracy … WHAT HAPPENED TO IT!
omg…toenails…..now I know what’s tramping through my flower beds…this is truly the best laugh of the week..toenails, omg.
morgan
I am a regular visitor of Graffiti Graveyard. Some of the little things in there I have done. A month or so back, I heard they were going to tear it down, so please help if you want it to stay. Youth such as myself do not want it torn down. It is the only place we can have peaceful artwork without getting into trouble. If anyone hears anything, please let me know.
Monkey
I hope they don’t tear this place down or shut it down to the public. I think that this is a really educational place and not to mention historic. I go there twice a summer and have been going since I was 16 and I am 32 now. I just took my daughters today!!! I can’t wait to go again. I love this place and it’s not some place to be scared of.
24 thoughts on “Duluth’s Graffiti Graveyard”
This is such a cool place. Reminds me of Duluth’s version of the caves in St. Paul.
Where is this? I assume under 35 somewhere in Linkin Park, er, I mean West End?
It’s just off Railroad Street, between Bayfront Park and the Depot.
See the dark, square opening under the freeway? Go in there.
Of course, I should point out that homeless people have been known to camp out there, and I think there was a body found there a few years ago, so, you know, proceed with caution and in daylight.
I hope that someone has been regularly visiting the graveyard with a camera for the last 15 years or so.
I’ve always hoped to someday see a thick coffee table book with full color prints of graffiti graveyard murals long painted over.
I suppose bringing in good light for photos would be difficult, and there’s no way you could capture the true ‘hypodermic needle meets guerrilla art’ nature of the place.
FYI – The graveyard is a great place to bring out-of-town guests…like your parents.
This is a cool video.
I believe that is the location where an elderly homeless couple were brutally murdered a few years back. As usually happens with attacks on the homeless, the perpetrator(s) were never found.
Aside from that gruesome detail, it is a really cool place, home to some of the best guerilla art in the region.
I’ve been meaning to go see…thanks for posting.
Thanks for sharing the video. I personally photographed the graveyard on a couple occasions while I was living in Duluth. In fact one of the photos is the most popular item I have on Flickr.
You can tell who the respected artists are based on nobody bombing over their piece. There are some that been down there for a decade that nobody will touch. I once fell into the “hepatitis water” that runs through the graveyard. I was slowly moving rock to rock trying to cross to get in … it was bad. You can only imagine how many paint cans, needles, mutilated deer there are in the water. Let it be a warning to all new who enter. My skin burned for a week after.
JROLLA
–BOMBSQUAD–
2004 MNartists.org story:
Chris Godsey explores the richest trove of graffiti in the north. Is it public art?
Will the I-35 re-construction this coming summer remove much of the area?
Good question, Shane. I think the major repairs to I-35 are being done farther southwest. The section from Fifth Avenue West to 26th Avenue East is scheduled for pavement repair this summer, but I don’t think that will affect Graffiti Graveyard. Of course, I’m no expert.
I went down there once with a couple friends a few years ago. It was damn scary. There was somebody moving around down there way at the far end on the ground, so we didn’t venture in as far as I would have liked, and I don’t think I’d ever work up the courage to go back.
If it wasn’t a bloated, undead, rabid deer carcass, it was probably just a hobo.
You don’t know that, Adam. What if it was the person who murdered that elderly couple. 🙂
Yeah, it was REALLY close to the time that the bodies were found down there, so we just did the smarter thing and left.
I remember that deer carcass, and how someone had painted it’s toe nails green. I also remember an amazing portrait of Dick Tracy … WHAT HAPPENED TO IT!
Toenails?
omg…toenails…..now I know what’s tramping through my flower beds…this is truly the best laugh of the week..toenails, omg.
I am a regular visitor of Graffiti Graveyard. Some of the little things in there I have done. A month or so back, I heard they were going to tear it down, so please help if you want it to stay. Youth such as myself do not want it torn down. It is the only place we can have peaceful artwork without getting into trouble. If anyone hears anything, please let me know.
I hope they don’t tear this place down or shut it down to the public. I think that this is a really educational place and not to mention historic. I go there twice a summer and have been going since I was 16 and I am 32 now. I just took my daughters today!!! I can’t wait to go again. I love this place and it’s not some place to be scared of.
I have taken a couple of 360 images of the graffiti tunnels that can be seen on the Virtual Northland site.
SWEET!!!
I did not realize how necessary a 360-degree shot of Graffiti Graveyard was until now. Sweet, indeed.