Duluth, MN: #1, #2, #3 and #4 Ore Docks

(Satellite, these docks no longer exist. They have been replaced by #5 and #6.)

Association for Great Lakes Maritime History posted

An image from a dry plate negative of vessels awaiting loading at the iron ore docks of the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway in Duluth, Minn. circa 1905-1913 (Image Source: Library of Congress – Detroit Publishing Co. Collection). 

The collection notes identify the ships in the foreground, from left to right, as the George H. Russel (misspelled Russell in notes), Sultana (misspelled Sultan in notes), and James E. Davidson. The docks are misidentified as the Mesaba Docks in the photograph’s collection title.

[The description continues with a history of the freighters.]

Dennis DeBruler shared

These look too close together to be #5 and #6. So where were these docks?

Kay Myhrman-Toso commented on Dennis' share
This is a page from detailed map from 1902. It shows the location of three ore docks and the coal dock. What isn’t on this map (as it is on another page) is the Red Cliff lumber dock, which was about at 39th-40th Ave West, west of the coal dock. I believe what is shown in this great photo are the “old” ore docks. Much changed from the time this photo was taken until today. Note: high resolution images of this map (and others) are available online at Minnesota Digital Library.
Dennis DeBruler: Thanks. I found that it is Plate 17: https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/p16022coll6:496...
Kay Myhrman-Toso: Dennis DeBruler - I love this atlas, as it is so detailed. My great-grandfather was a blacksmith on the docks: he built a house not far from them, which is where I lived as a child.

Kent Rengo commented on Dennis' share
Published photo showing the dismantling of Dock 4 back in the late 1920's Dock 3 was removed a few years earlier. Their were plans to build a third dock of steel construction but consolidation of railroad properties in the 1930's shelved that plan.
Dennis DeBruler: Kent Rengo Thanks. I found a 1912 photo that shows all four docks. How were they numbered? This photo also confirms that I see two grain elevators peeking over the top of the left dock in the post's photo. (I don't know why a 1912 photo has a copyright on it.)
 https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:24
Kent Rengo: Dennis DeBruler The wooden ore docks were numbered, if looking from the Duluth hillside, left to right, 1-4.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Kent's share
1895?. "Vessels loading at ore docks, Duluth, Minnesota." University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, Accessed April 10, 2023.
 https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/nemhc:1628

The oldest topo map I could find was 1955, and by then all of the old docks had been replaced.

1953 Duluth Heights and 1954 West Duluth Quads @ 24,000