Highway 61

Call this historical tidbit “Highway 61 Revisited.” On July 10, 1925 — one hundred years ago today — a celebration was held in Two Harbors to mark the completion of what was then called the Lake Superior International Highway, a section of Minnesota Trunk Highway 1. …

Highway 1 monument at 66th Avenue West and Westgate Boulevard. (Photos by David James)

A monument a couple blocks north of I-35 in the front yard of a quiet residential neighborhood commemorates the upcoming opening of Minnesota Trunk Highway No. 1. It was erected on June 13, 1924, 100 years ago today. A recent post on this site featured a photo describing a campground along this Highway, which led to a brief discussion of just what this Highway 1 was and what became of it. …

This postcard image is dated 100 years ago today — July 9, 1921. It appears to be two families parked on the side of old Highway 61. …

Take a cruise up Highway 61 in this edition of the PDD Video Lab, featuring old footage from Duluth’s Lester River, past the Loneyville Motel to the edge of Silver Creek Cliff before a tunnel was built there, and on to Gooseberry Falls State Park and Silver Bay.

For music, an excerpt of a cover version of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” by Sparklehorse & Thom Yorke from the soundtrack to the 2005 movie Lords of Dogtown.

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