Docks of Duluth-Superior Harbor

Elevator A

Built in 1909, this grain elevator is one of Duluth’s oldest elevators still in operation. The Hansen-Mueller facility can store up to 3.5 million bushels of grain. Although most of the product gets loaded onto ships, some of the grain gets transported by train to other plants throughout the Midwest. With it's recent re-activation in 2023, the facility mostly handles beet pulp pellets, a by-product of the sugar beet industry of Western Minnesota used for animal feed overseas.

Dock History: Elevator "A" sits on land that was first filled in by the Northern Pacific Railway in 1878, resulting in the construction of Duluth's first harborside grain elevators; the city's first grain elevator had been built on the open lake in 1870, and the digging of the Duluth ship canal a year later allowed vessels and docks to operate inside the harbor. An older wooden Elevator, known as Elevator "D" occupied the exact location of today's "A" from its construction in 1884 to it's burning in 1908.

Duluth Storage - Riverland Ag (Ceres Global)

Built by Cargill in 1978, this grain storage facility is still the most automated in the Twin Ports. The silos can hold up to 12.2 million bushels of grain, and 220 hopper cars can fit around the horseshoe track that goes around the facility. The complex is owned and operated by the Ceres Global Ag Corporation; headquartered in Golden Valley MN, the company operates 12 other grain handling facilities across the Upper Midwest and Canada.

Dock History: The south side of the property was first filled in during the 1880's for the rapid expansion of "elevator row". Wooden elevators "E", "F", "H", and "I" were constructed on the property starting in 1884. Elevator "I" was later replaced by a concrete structure in 1919, part of which still stands for Riverland Ag operations. The rest of the property was filled in for a massive coal dock operated by the Pittsburgh Coal Company in 1908.

Northland Pier

Northland Bituminous Inc. uses this dock to recycle demolished asphalt and concrete; they crush the pieces down and mix them in with material that will be used for new road construction. They also receive asphalt, concrete, gravel, and limestone from ships on rare occasion.

Dock History: Northland operates on the site of a former coal dock operated by many companies over the years. From the 1880's through the 1950's, eastern coal was one of the top inbound cargoes for Duluth-Superior Harbor; in those days, it was used to power and heat everything from big industry to small homes. Coal docks easily took up the most space around the harbor since it was unloaded into huge piles. This dock was originally constructed for use by the Northwestern Fuel Company in 1888.

Duluth Lake Port and Storage

Formerly known as the AGP elevator, this complex was built by the Capitol Elevator Company in 1917 and can hold up to 4.1 million bushels of grain. Currently owned by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, the elevator complex is slated for demolishment to free space for future storage of project cargoes like wind turbine parts and mining equipment.

Dock History: This dock was originally a very narrow strip of land where the Duluth-Imperial Flour Mill was constructed in 1880; for several years, it was considered the largest and most productive flour mill in the nation. It was surpassed by flour mills in Minneapolis around the turn-of-the-century and eventually sold to the Capitol Elevator Company. Capitol eventually operated four grain elevators on the site, knowns as Elevator Numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7. Elevator No.4 famously burned down in 1978, damaging a freighter wintering below the elevator at the time.

Azcon Metals

This dock is used for stockpiling and recycling scrap metal. Azcon Metals, founded in 1863, receives scrap metal from steel mills, railroads, foundries, mining operations, and industrial companies.

Dock History: Before the turn-of-the-twentieth-century, a few sawmills occupied this once swampy area of Rice's Point. By 1920, it had been filled in for use as a coal dock by Northwestern Fuel. A scrapyard has existed here since the 1960's where several Great Lakes freighters have been recycled over the years; the 1904-built J.B. Ford was the most recent freighter to be scrapped here, which was completed in 2022.

Duluth Marine Terminal

This ship fueling dock was built in 1998 by Murphy Oil. Now operated by Cenovus Energy, the dock can hold 560,000 gallons of fuel and can pump 72,000 gallons of fuel onto a ship per hour; it typically takes about an hour and a half to two hours to fuel a vessel in total. One of the 1,000-foot lakers can take on the same amount of fuel as over 2,000 diesel pick-up trucks!

Clure Public Marine Terminal

This dock handles, stores, and ships general cargo unloaded from ocean-going vessels. The general cargo unloaded here varies from wood pulp and paper to wind turbine blades. Besides four large warehouses, the facility has two 81-ton gantry cranes and a mobile 300-ton crane for unloading ships.

Dock History: The northern section of today's Port Terminal was once the site of the world's first concrete grain elevator complex. Frank Peavey came up with the idea to help prevent catastrophic fires and had his complex built in 1900; the elevator was torn down in the 1990's to make room for incoming project cargoes. The majority of the land wasn't filled in until the 1950's in anticipation of the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway in 1959; the Duluth Seaway Port Authority owns much of the land here for development of trade routes from Duluth to countries overseas.

Ash Grove Duluth Terminal (CRH)

Built in 1981, this cement storage facility is 284 feet high, making it the tallest building in the Twin Ports. Cement is transported by ship from overseas to be stored in these four silos; each silo can hold 10,000 tons of cement. The facility unloads about 5 to 10 vessels a year, and can unload a vessel in about 54 hours.

Dock History: Before the land here was filled in during the 1950's, this was a swampy area used by the Alger-Smith Lumber Company to gather their incoming log shipments. Their mill was built near this location in 1890 and burned in 1915. The old metal bridge nearby is the remains of the old Interstate Bridge that was built in 1897 and dismantled in 1971.

Canadian National Duluth Docks

These docks load iron ore pellets from railcars onto ships and unload limestone from ships to railcars. The active dock, known as Dock 6, was built in 1918 and the adjacent, inactive Dock 5 was built in 1914. Operated by the Canadian National Railway of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Dock 6 can load ships via a conveyor belt system or gravity-feed; the conveyor belt system can load 10,000 tons of iron ore pellets onto a ship per hour.

Dock History: The first ore dock was originally built on the Superior side of the harbor in 1892. The Duluth Mesabi & Northern Railway built their first wooden ore dock here the next year in 1893. As ore mining exploded on the Mesabi Iron Range into the next decade, the railroad built taller and better ore docks to accommodate steam freighters that were increasing in size.

By World War One, there were four ore docks almost a half-mile long operating here alongside smaller docks for receiving coal and limestone. Dock No.6 was indeed the sixth and final dock built here at this location. Over time, the smaller, wooden ore docks were retired and deconstructed while the steel docks remained. Dock No.6 was equipped with a conveyor system to load and handle taconite pellets during the 1960's. Today's ship-loader system began service in 1983.

CN-Hallett #5

Recently acquired by neighboring Canadian National Railway, this dock is used for both outgoing and incoming cargos. Various products are handled here from bentonite clay and limestone, used for iron ore pellet production, to blast furnace trim, used for steel production. Trains and trucks transport these products to and from the dock as they’re picked up and dropped off by ships.

Dock History: This dock sits near the site of one Duluth's earliest European settlements known as Oneota. Founded by pioneer families, the harbor and region's first saw mill was built near here in 1855 followed by a school and post office. The dock itself was first built as a coal dock in 1892 by the Pennsylvania & Ohio Coal Company. The dock was extended over time and equipped with a massive bridge crane for unloading incoming freighters. The dock transitioned to stone cargoes once the Hallett Dock Company took over in the 1960's.

Erie Pier

Owned by the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, this dock is operated by the US Army Corps of Engineers as a beneficial re-use facility where material dredged from the bottom of the harbor is recycled. The material, mostly soil and sand, is reused in both Minnesota and Wisconsin for construction projects.

Dock History: Like today, this area of the harbor mostly stayed natural and swampy as docks developed around it. Two local dredging companies, Duluth-Superior Dredging and Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, used this area to dock their various barges and tugs. This part of the harbor was also flanked by two different lumber wharves for loading and unloading freshly cut and finished lumber. The Red Cliff Lumber Company operated a huge yard and sawmill near here from 1898 through 1918.

C.Reiss Coal Duluth Terminal

The C. Reiss Coal Company handles Eastern coal, limestone, and other cargoes that ships unload at this dock. The company itself has been operating since the early 1920’s as a coal handler. The limestone that is delivered to this dock is used for driveways, landscaping, construction projects, and the sugar beet industry in Western Minnesota.

Dock History: This dock was first built and occupied by the Island Creek Coal Company in 1913. At the time, it was one of four different coal docks that operated in this part of the harbor. There were also four different lumber companies that operated wharves and sawmills just to the north; you can find remains of these lumber operations to this day.

Envirotech-Hallett #8

Unlike Hallett Dock 5 on the other side of the harbor, this dock is only used for incoming cargoes. Ships and barges unload various cargoes from liquid calcium chloride, used in road maintenance, to salt and sand; these cargoes are stockpiled, stored, and later shipped by truck or train to customers.

Dock History: Many of the docks in this part of the harbor were constructed by James J. Hill's Eastern Minnesota Railway (which would later become part of the famous Great Northern) in the 1880's and 1890's. This dock was built in 1893 to receive coal shipments, and it was first operated by the Youghiogheny & Lehigh Coal Company. Originally only 1,000 feet long, it was later extended to its current 2,600 foot length in 1915 by the C. Reiss Coal Company. In more recent years, the railcar ferry Incan Superior famously loaded railcars here for delivery to Thunder Bay by the Canadian Pacific Railroad between 1974 and 1992; the ferry completed more then 100 trips per year and 2,400 round trips total between Superior and Thunder Bay during that time.

C. Reiss Coal Superior Terminal

Long dormant, C. Reiss Coal is planning to move most of their operations in the Twin Ports from their Duluth dock to this location. High water levels and silt deposits from the St. Louis River forced the move. Vessels will be delivering stone, coal, and other cargoes to this dock beginning in the Summer of 2024.

Dock History: The Standard Oil Company built a small, wooden dock here in 1893 with storage tanks to receive petroleum products from their Refinery in Whiting, Indiana. The dock's current structure was built in 1907 for use by the Berwind Fuel Company to receive what? You guessed it: Coal. The dock fell out of use by the 1970's.

Superior Midwest Energy Terminal

Also known as SMET, this terminal is operated by the Midwest Energy Resources Company. Built in 1976, the terminal receives low sulfur Western coal from the Power River Basin of Montana and Wyoming via 123-car unit trains. The coal is then loaded onto ships at up to 11,500 tons per hour to be mainly taken to DTE Energy power plants on the Great Lakes.

Dock History: The massive Midwest Energy complex was built on the remains of three coal docks that were constructed by James J. Hill's Eastern Minnesota Railway by 1889. The railroad eventually leased these docks after the turn-of-the-century to various coal handling companies like Pittsburgh Coal, Carnegie Coal, and Northwestern Fuel. Almost always receiving coal from the lower lakes, the construction of Midwest Energy completely switched the trade route with low western coal and petroleum coke going outbound.

General Mills Elevators S and X

These grain elevators, like others in the Twin Ports, store and load grain onto ships traveling across the Great Lakes and overseas. The taller elevator, known as Elevator S, was built in 1900 while Elevator X was built further inland in 1947. General Mills Superior elevators can store up to 12.7 million bushels of grain.

Dock History: James J. Hill's Eastern Minnesota Railway, which would be merged into the famous Great Northern in 1907, built their first grain elevator at the inner end of this pier in 1886; this elevator was known as "Elevator A", and it was flanked by a freight dock where Hill's package freighters could load flour and other products for the lower lakes. The outer end of the dock was used as a coal dock until the Great Northern Railway greatly expanded grain loading and storage with the building of Elevators S and X after 1900. Storage capacity was increased further with the building of concrete storage silos during the 1920's.

Cenex Harvest States (CHS) Docks 1 and 2

This grain terminal can hold up to 18 million bushels of grain, making it the largest in Twin Ports. Built by the Farmers Union Grain Terminal Association in 1942, it was believed to be one of the largest grain terminals in the world in the 1950’s. This facility can load an ocean-going vessel in only 18 hours.

Dock History: Until the building of today's CHS grain elevators, this piece of land was left mostly unused for many years. The area was altered from its natural state by 1892 with the establishment of a smelting facility near the end of the dock. In 1917, Spencer, Kellogg & Sons established a flour mill and elevator. The current Blatnik Bridge nearby was built above land used to build ships during World War One by the Globe Ship Building Company.

Fraser Shipyards

Having been established in 1890, Fraser Shipyards is one of the largest American-owned ship repair facilities on the Great Lakes. The facility has two dry docks and shops for all types of ship repair and renovation. Here, ships can have anything done from simple repair work to major conversions such as installing a new self-unloading system or updating engines.

Dock History: Alexander McDougall established a shipyard here to build a unique class of vessel known as the whaleback; his American Steel Barge Company built 33 of these cigar-shaped bulk freight steamers and barges until 1898. The shipyard was taken over by the American Ship Building Company in 1899 and renamed the Superior Ship Building Company to build another 27 conventional steam freighters. The last vessel built here was an ocean-going ship in 1919. After World War Two, the yard was sold to the Knudsen Brothers to continue the work of repairing and modernizing lake vessels under the Fraser name.

Gavilon Grain LLC

The Gavilon Grain Company has a long history in the Twin Ports dating back to 1898 as the Continental Grain Company. This facility, like many others in the harbor, stores and loads grain onto ships; many international vessels load grain here to be shipped across the world. Originally a coal-receiving dock dating to the early 1900s, the elevator complex itself was built in 1966.

Graymont Superior Lime

Graymont LLC uses this facility and dock to produce lime from limestone delivered by ships. The limestone, coming from lower Michigan quarries, is stockpiled and moved onto conveyer belts to be fired in kilns. The resulting lime is then shipped via truck and train to customers for a variety of uses from water and air purification to agricultural fertilization. This dock also handles shipments of eastern coal.

Lafarge North America, Superior

Cement is unloaded from specialized cement carrying vessels and stored in silos for shipment elsewhere. The silos themselves can hold 8,500 tons of cement, which comes from LaFarge’s quarry and processing plant in Alpena, Michigan. The cement carrier J.A.W. Iglehart, built in 1936, is currently moored to the facility and being used as a floating storage and transfer vessel.

Hansen-Mueller Company

Although this dock no longer loads ships, it is still used as a storage facility for grain. These silos, known as Elevator M and Daisy Mill, were acquired by the Omaha, Nebraska based company in 2008.