Duluth (Minnesota)

Duluth is a seaport city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Saint Louis County. Duluth forms a metropolitan area with Superior called the Twin Ports. The cities share the Duluth–Superior harbor and together are the Great Lakes' largest port transporting coal, iron ore (taconite), and grain. The city is named for Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, the first known European explorer of the area. A tourist destination for the Midwest, Duluth features the United States' only all-freshwater aquarium, the Great Lakes Aquarium; the Aerial Lift Bridge, which spans the Duluth Ship Canal into the Duluth–Superior Harbor; and Minnesota Point, the world's longest freshwater baymouth bar, spanning 6 miles. The downtown area was renovated with new red brick streets, skywalks, and new retail shops. Old warehouses along the waterfront were converted into cafés, shops, restaurants, and hotels. These changes fashioned the new Canal Park as a trendy tourism-oriented district. At the beginning of the 21st century, Duluth has become a regional epicenter for banking, retail shopping, and medical care for northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and northwestern Michigan. Duluth has numerous parks,including six parks on Lake Superior: Brighton Beach Park, Leif Erickson Park, Canal Park on Park Point, the Lakewalk, Lafayette Park on Park Point, and Park Point Recreation Area near the end of Park Point, where a sand beach invites swimming in the lake. Park Point Pine Forest, located at the tip of Park Point, is popular for bird watching in the spring and fall when numerous shore birds use the area as a resting point during their migration. With a vertical elevation of approximately 700 feet, Spirit Mountain is the second highest ski hill in Minnesota. In Duluth the right season for surfing is winter, especially during one of Lake Superior's infamous gales of November.