Time line
-1854 & 1855: rumors of immense copper deposits along the North Shore & of iron ore at Lake Vermilion sparked a boom in the area.
-1854: the Treaty of La Point was signed at Fond du Lac by which the Grand Portage & Fond du Lac Indians gave up their rights to mineral tracts in the region.
-1855: Sault Ste Marie locks open allowing large ships into Lake Superior
-1857: the national panic of 1857 brought disaster to the area and for 10 years there wasn't a single store on the Minnesota shore of Lake Superior
-1859: scarlet fever epidemic devastates area
-1865: only two house were occupied in Duluth, but another rush was on. Geologists reported finding iron ore and gold-bearing quartz at Lake Vermilion. Jay Cooke also decided to make Duluth the northern terminal of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad, replacing the old Military Road from St. Paul
-1869: Population reaches 3,500
-1870: First Charter; Duluth was booming and regarded itself as a "City of Destiny."
-1871: Col. J. B. Culver was elected the first mayor of Duluth. The canal through Minnesota Point, now bridged by the Aerial Lift Bridge, was dug.
-1873: Jay Cooke's financial failure rocked the area. Banks failed, real estate slumped, and there was no work. The population dwindled from about 5,000 to 1,300.
-March 12, 1877: Duluth held its last council meeting after which it burned up its bonds and lapsed into a "village" status. The more settled parts of were known as the Duluth village for the next 10 years, and the surrounding areas the "district."
-1878: Duluth's prominence begins to return; lumbering, grain began to pour into the port, and the village boundaries had to be expanded.
-1881: the first street railway franchise was granted
-1886: population was 26,000
-1887: the legislature gave Duluth permission to call itself a city
-December 3, 1912: present charter provided for a commission form of government was adopted
The development of elevators, docks, railroads, and sawmills gave impetus to the population numbers
-1890: population - 33,115 (aided by the beginning of ore shipments)
-1900: population - 52,969
-1902: A State Normal School opens
-1910: population - 78,466
-1916: Iron, steel, and Portland cement plants for large scale production open
-1929: Peak year of total net tonnage shipped of 60.39 million -- of this iron made up 50%; the balance was limestone, coal, grain, and misc. products; value exceeded $485 million.
-1930: population - 101,463 (more than there is today); the foreign-born population totaled 24,929
-1935: the average cargo received and shipped 124,190 tons, and 11,050 vessels passed in and out of the harbor each day
-In 1985, Duluth was second to New York in the United States in total net tonnage, even with only eight months of navigation. The average yearly tonnage was 48 million net.