Duluth, Minnesota Lakes Waterway and the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Duluth forms a metropolitan area with neighboring Superior, Wisconsin, called the Twin Ports. The cities share the Duluth–Superior harbor and together are the Great Lakes' largest port, transporting coal, iron ore (taconite), and grain. A tourist destination for the Midwest, Duluth features the United States' only all-freshwater aquarium, the Great Lakes Aquarium; the Aerial Lift Bridge, which spans the Duluth Ship Canal into the Duluth–Superior Harbor; and Minnesota Point (known locally as Park Point), the world's longest freshwater baymouth bar, spanning . The city is also the starting point for vehicle trips along
North Shore (Lake Superior) Rush brought a new wave of settlement to the North Shore. American settlement began in earnest in 1869. When the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad was built, people could move across the country in days instead of months. In 1869 Duluth grew from 14 families in January to a population of 3,500 in July. Construction on the Duluth Harbor was started to allow steamboat shipping between Duluth and Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago. The town of Beaver Bay was founded in 1869 as a fishing community, and Grand Marais was founded by Henry Mayhew and Sam Howenstine in 1871. Another panic