Pride of the Inland Seas

Illustrated history of the Port nears its release date

"Before there were cities, states, or a nation, there was the port …"

So reads a line in the Afton Historical Society Press's 2003- 04 catalog on the top of Page 2, a page devoted to the forthcoming publication of Pride of the Inlands Seas: An Illustrated History of the Port of Duluth-Superior.

"Set against a backdrop of the key industries that helped build North America: iron and steel, forest products, grain, and coal, Pride of the Inland Seas tells the fascinating tale of the development of the Twin Ports during three centuries of economic, technological, political and social change," says Afton Press.

"This is the story of the people at the Head of the Lakes who built, loaded, and sailed the ships that have made Duluth-Superior synonymous with Great Lakes maritime commerce."

The 240-page hardcover book, due out next April, will be the first comprehensive history written about the Great Lakes' largest port.

"It's certain to set a standard for maritime histories in North America," said former Duluth port director Davis Helberg, who edited the manuscript by one-time port authority president Bill Beck, now based in Indianapolis, Ind., and former Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center director C. Patrick Labadie, now of Alpena, Mich.

Helberg, who launched the project with Port Authority board approval in the late 1990s, said the book "will appeal to regional historians, scholars, maritime industry professionals, general readers and the ubiquitous marine buffs who line the shores from Duluth to the mouth of the St. Lawrence River."

Beck, the chief author, has written nearly 30 company and organizational histories as well as literally hundreds of magazine and newspaper stories on trade and transportation. For Pride of the Inland Seas, he interviewed about 50 local and national maritime personalities in addition to researching the Lake Superior Marine Museum's collection at the University of Wisconsin-Superior Library, the St. Louis and Douglas County historical societies' files, and numerous books, trade publications, newspapers and letters. Photos and illustrations — many to be published for the first time — were made available through the same sources as well as from private collections.