Duluth, Minnesota four Catholic schools with coverage up to grades 6 or 8, two Protestant schools, two Montessori schools, and six other charter and private schools. Due to its proximity to the Great Lakes, Duluth is the location for the Large Lakes Observatory. The Large Lakes Observatory operates the largest university-owned research vessel in the Great Lakes, the R/V Blue Heron. Built in 1985 for fishing on the Grand Banks, the Blue Heron was purchased by the University of Minnesota in 1997, sailed from Portland, Maine, up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Duluth, and converted into a limnological research vessel during the
St. Mary's/Duluth Clinic Health System partnership between the Benedictine Health System and SMDC. In 2010, Essentia Health integrated the resources of all of its various member organizations and united them under the one name, Essentia Health, and SMDC Health System ceased to exist. St. Mary's/Duluth Clinic Health System SMDC Health System (St. Mary's/Duluth Clinic Health System) was a former hospital network with hospitals and clinics in northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin and also serving parts of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The four hospitals were St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, Minnesota, SMDC Medical Center in Duluth, St. Mary’s Hospital of Superior, Wisconsin and Pine Medical Center