Let me start by saying do NOT attempt to access this location without permission. I was granted permission to film at this location by the owner. Please do not trespass!
American Integrity departing from the CN6 ore dock (actually visible here!!) and making her way through the back harbor, under the Blatnik Bridge and ultimately out under the Lift Bridge. Waiting her turn near the bridge is Burns Harbor who had arrived shortly before and was waiting for the Integrity to depart before entering the ore dock. Last but not least, the Vista Star decided to drop in amongst the giants and give their tour guests a wonderful view of the two together, and American Integrity made it even more special by saluting them! The Vista saluted back, and Burns Harbor, not to be outdone, joined in the fun as well, making it an incredibly rare three way salute! The first I’ve ever seen! Other port facilities visible here are the CHS and General Mills Grain Elevators (closest), the SMET coal dock and the Hallet 5 stone dock behind the ore docks. There will eventually be a second part of this video for Burns Harbor, but decided to focus on American Integrity for this particular video.
Of course the real star of the show here is the filming location. Built in 1887, the Globe Pier Grain Elevators were the largest grain elevators in the world when constructed and was the first to feature multiple storage buildings connected by conveyors. For a hundred years they loaded ships as one of the main grain facilities in the city, servicing everything from wooden sailing ships, whaleback ships, through the entire classic laker era all the way up to the modern lakers of today. In 1988 the old elevator became too costly to operate and too small to compete with new, massive elevators going up on Duluth’s Rice’s Point and next door in Superior. The facility was shuttered and the last ships sailed out. The harbor slip was allowed to fill with sand. In 1994 the abandoned structures were purchased by a heritage group, with the intention of preserving the structures and potentially using them as a museum, but this never came to pass. The ancient wood, imbedded with over a century of potentially explosive grain dust was deemed too high a risk for this purpose. These concerns would ultimately prove warranted. So in the late 2000s an alternative idea was approved. The buildings would be dismantled, and the wood would be repurposed for materials around the city, to be featured as heritage items. Dismantling started in 2008. Progress went incredibly slow, with little change over the next decade, but enough wood was salvaged to allow pieces to be displayed across dozens of buildings around the city.
Then in 2018, disaster struck. A fire started in the ship loading headhouse and quickly spread to the closest storage building. The 131 year old buildings, filled with explosive dust, burned to the ground, sending flames hundreds of feet into the air. It was deemed too dangerous for firefighters to intervene, the only thing that could be done was prevent the fire from reaching the last, most inland storage building. The remainder of the pier and elevators were lost, except for one metal section that stood at the end of the head house, which is still standing today. The fire caused an estimated $10 million dollars in damage, and more importantly, thousands of tons of historic wood was lost. The dismantling of the final building continues today.
In 2022 the pier section of the site was sold to a local small buisness man. He and his family have been slowly cleaning up the extensive debris left behind by the old elevator and the fire in a long going weekend project now starting its third year. Today the pier stands mostly clear and surprisingly beautiful, it even features a small beach at its end. The towering remains of the elevator still loom over the site, a reminder of what once was.
As for the future of the site, talks are in the works for a project to make use of the pier. Details are unknown, but it’s possible it will ultimately be used for new public park, housing or possibly a return to an active dock. I got enough of the picture that I might be able to guess what they ultimately wish to do with it, but since talks such as this can be very delicate, I’ll keep that to myself to avoid creating potential problems by accidentally making too much public. But it will be very interesting to see where this goes! I will say the owner and his family are some of the nicest people I’ve met in Duluth (which is saying something) and was welcomed like family when I showed up! Far from what I was expecting! They’re ship fans as well and love watching them. Thank you for inviting me out there, along with everything else!