This is one of several big grain elevators in Superior, WI.
This elevator was built to ship grain to the Great Northern Elevator in Buffalo, NY. The working house was built in 1898 and two concrete annexes were added in 1909. [american-collossus]
HAER disagrees with the 1909 date for the concrete annexes. 1909 would be rather early for such big concrete structures. (A few hours after I wrote that, I discovered that the middle silos of the Calumet Elevator in Minneapolis, MN, were built in 1907. So 1909 is not too early for major concrete silos.)
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| HAER WI-109-2 2. GREAT NORTHERN ELEVATORS (STEEL) 1900 SUPERIOR WISCONSIN; ANNEX NO. 3 (LEFT) ANNEX NO. 1 (RIGHT) 1920'S; CONVEYOR LINE LEADS TO ELEVATOR X. - Great Northern Elevator "S", Saint Louis Bay, Superior, Douglas County, WI |
A 1908 photo with the same view as the above photo Only the wood part existed back then and it had a smokestack on this end. That is because it would still be steam powered.
"S" is on the west side and "X" is on the east side. This was the original "X" elevator.
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| Margaret Downing posted Superior, Wis. Great Northern Grain Elevator 1941. Moose Mihalak: This burned in the mid 1940s and was rebuilt. Address would be 2205 Winter Street; BNSF owns this property and leases it long term to General Mills. (I only post the address here because Winter Street runs east/west, but this small section runs north to the water). Due to Homeland Security regulations, it is inaccessible to the public. [This photo was taken rather soon before it burned.] Kathy Black shared Thought this was a great photo. |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Marty's post The core of that building is still being used. |
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| Marty Bernard posted 4. Great Northern Elevator, Superior, Wisconsin, circa 1918. Photographs and captions from the Minnesota Historical Society. |
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| Marty Bernard posted 2. Great Northern Grain Elevator, Superior, Wisconsin, circa 1914. Photographs and captions from the Minnesota Historical Society. Dennis DeBruler This elevator is still standing as part of the General Mills elevator. |
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| Marty Bernard posted 4. Loading grain into freighters at Great Northern Elevator, Superior, Wisconsin circa 1940. Photographs and captions from the Minnesota Historical Society Ray McCollough shared |
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| Photo via reddit The Great Northern Grain Elevator “S”. The largest grain elevator in the world when it was built in 1898 and still in use today. Superior, WI [OC] [4608X3456] |
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| David Schauer posted The year is 1973 and we are looking toward Duluth from Superior's waterfront. Canadian lakers are loading at the GN elevator (center) and Globe elevator (right). Two silver stackers of the U.S. Steel fleet are headed for the DM&IR ore docks while a pair of salties are at the port terminal. The open area in the lower left would soon become the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal to handle millions of tons of western coal through the Twin Ports. Burlington Northern's Wisconsin and Minnesota swing bridges are also visible (removed in the mid-1980s). Basgen Photography |
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| Wes Oleszewski posted Can someone identify this Duluth elevator? The era is the 1940s. Don't bother guessing the two boats- I already have 100% ID'ed them both. The closest is the VENUS and the farthest is the SUMATRA. What I need is to ID the elevator. Serious answers only please Richard Jenkins: Doris Sampson Great Northern Elevator S in Superior. |
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| David Schauer posted A nice sun break as the American Mariner loads wheat at the General Mills (BNSF) elevator in Superior for Buffalo. 11/14/2021 Dennis DeBruler shared The Great Northern grain elevator "S" was the largest in the world when it was built in 1898. And it is still loading ships. Fran Jilka Churchill: I managed the General Mills flour mill in Buffalo for awhile, neat to actually see where our wheat came from at the other end of the lakes! |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on his share https://www.google.com/.../data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4... |
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| David Schauer posted An interesting occurrence yesterday was the arrival of the Canadian-flagged laker Manitoulin from Thunder Bay for the General Mills elevator in Superior. What made this unusual is that the Manitoulin had arrived loaded and discharged its cargo into a receiving hopper at the elevator, similar to what it did a few years ago at Riverland B2. In that case the cargo was oats, but I'm not sure what was delivered to General Mills. The laker departed this afternoon for Two Harbors. Superior, WI - June 21, 2023 Isaac Pennock: Didn’t the Mariner or White test that hopper earlier this year? David Schauer: Isaac Pennock Correct, Mariner. Tom Jackson: 1.25 million bushels of oats. Mark Janovec: A rare occurrence! I wonder when the last time that equipment at General Mills received grain from a ship. I bet they had to spend some time dusting it off! David Schauer: Mark Janovec I was wondering the same thing. Last month the American Mariner took on a few bushels here and then unloaded it back into the elevator using that hopper to make sure it worked. It then loaded normally for Buffalo. Neat to see! [Some comments indicate that the long lasting drought has hit wheat so bad that some is now being imported.] |
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| Brian R. Wroblewski commented on Davids post What is this siding material? Metal sheathing? |
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| David commented on Brian's comment Metal. We took a zoom view of the unloading area. Brian R. Wroblewski: David Schauer oh ok that answered a long standing question that I've had. The Great Northern elevator here in Buffalo was of similar design but it never got re-skinned like that & had a brick wall collapse last year. That was it & ADM tore it down. |
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| Daniel Holbrook posted Lake Superior loading at elevator S&X Superior, WI. October 1, 1998. DP Holbrook Photo |
The additions kept the "world's largest" record as of 1941. This view shows the nine legs added to the original elevator. Those were the receiving legs. There were 18 legs inside the building, 9 for cleaning and 9 for shipping. [Oct 20, 2009 comment on american-colossus]
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| LC-USF34-063815-D Great Northern elevator. Superior, Wisconsin. This is the largest grain elevator in the world. |
Another view of of the elevator from the bay.
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| Paul Scinocca posted Dirk S VanEnkevort/Michigan Trader departing Duluth light this Wednesday early evening. They arrived Duluth June 14th @ 23:47, sailed all the way up to the C.Reiss dock in West Duluth to discharge the limestone they arrived with. Shown here departing light, heading to Silver Bay @ 17:36. |
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| David Schauer posted The H. Lee White loads wheat at the General Mills elevator in Superior to cap off a very slow season for this facility (only 3 ships in 2022-23 versus 9 in 2021-22). Wheat from this elevator typically goes to General Mills in Buffalo (someone mentioned they received some wheat from Thunder Bay this year versus Superior but I can't find that post). 1/12/2023 [The Soo Locks close on Jan 15, in just three days.] John West: If it doesn’t go to General Mills do Salties load here? David Schauer: John West They used to in the past but only domestic in recent years. Steve Oberlander: John West they’ll ship rail too, but not necessarily from Superior…direct from the country [Per Brian R. Wroblewski's comment below, Buffalo has "gotten grain from Thunder Bay, Superior, & Hamilton for the Frontier elevator (GM) & the Standard (ADM) from GRN & LLT." And via a PM Brian explains: "GRN would be Grand River Navigation Co. who owns the US side of Rand Logistics lakes fleet & LLT is Lower Lakes Transportation, Rand's Canadian division."] |
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| Photo provided by Jacob Wickman |
Excellent photos. They answer some questions but conjure more. Did the GN 'S' originally have a brick exterior? It almost looks like the photos show steel panels being placed over the brick but it's hard to tell.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Buffalo, we've gotten grain from Thunder Bay, Superior, & Hamilton for the Frontier elevator (GM) & the Standard (ADM) from GRN & LLT.