During the last years of the 19th century; the Duluth Harbor; situated between the sister cities of Duluth; Minnesota; and Superior; was the birthplace of a bold and innovative and decidedly odd-looking class of Great Lakes barges and steamships known as whalebacks. Capt. Alexander McDougall and his American Steel Barge Company built the curved-decked; snout-nosed whalebacks on the shores of the harbor; first at Duluth�s Rice�s Point and later in Howard�s Pocket at Superior. The vessels were a radical departure; in design; form; and construction;from the standard shipbuilding concepts of the era but proved themselves more than capable as a number of the boats sailed the Great Lakes and the seaboardsof America until the 1960s. All the whalebacks are gone now�either scrapped or sunk�with one exception. After sailing the lakes for more than 70 years; thelast whaleback; the SS Meteor; returned home to Superior in 1972 and is now continuing its service as a magnificent maritime museum on Barker�s Island.
#1470967 in eBooks 2007-04-25 2007-04-25File Name: B0099F9N3C
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Remarkable historyBy James C.If youre from Wilkinsburg you will likely be as astounded as I was with the exceedingly rich history contained in these pages. The large number of photographs is amazing. most of them conveniently captioned with facts about the photo. The only things that could improve this book would be color photos (when possible) and a better binding - the spine cracked easily and the pages fell out soon after purchase. Still. I am grateful that the historical society put this book together. and that its available here.Update... This is a great book to look at and read. but for the earliest history (1700s-1800s) search for Annals of Old Wilkinsburg and Vicinity. available in the public domain.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Awesome HIstoryBy ShawnaI bought this book for my dad as a Christmas present. His grandfather had opened a business there in 1914 and my family had lived for years afters. Things have certainly changed in that time so it was very cool seeing the wonderful photographs and reading through the history. My dad loves the book.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Well written. plenty of old picturesBy CustomerPictures of long ago and places I visited when visiting my Grandmother
