St. Michael's Catholic Church

About St. Michael's Catholic Church

St. Michael's is the Catholic parish serving Duluth's far east side, at 4901 East Superior Street between the Lakeside business block and the Lester Park end of the corridor. It draws from Lakeside, Lester Park, and the North Shore strip beyond Brighton Beach, and from parts of Congdon Park depending on how families choose.

Its Superior Street address puts it in walking range of much of Lakeside, and it functions as a neighborhood institution as well as a parish, with the usual mix of faith formation, sacramental preparation, and volunteer ministries that anchor a good deal of the east side's non-school volunteering. The parish is active in CHUM, the ecumenical body founded by ten Central Hillside churches in 1973 that runs much of Duluth's food and shelter work.

The parish is a century old and predates most of the housing around it. The first Mass was celebrated in 1914 in the fire hall at Dodge Street and 51st Avenue East, and the congregation was known then as Lakeside Catholic Church. It incorporated under its present name on 4 August 1915. An original church was begun in the autumn of 1914 at 49th Avenue East and Pitt Street, and in 1923 the parish opened St. Michael's School, staffed by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois, until 1981. That school building is still standing and still in use, now as the Lakeside Professional Building, which is a useful orientation point for anyone walking the neighborhood.

The present church on East Superior Street is a postwar building in a semi-modified Italian Romanesque style. Ground was broken on 25 April 1955, the cornerstone was laid in October 1956 by Monsignor Michael Boland, then vicar general of the Diocese of Duluth, and Bishop Thomas A. Welch dedicated the finished church on 25 November 1956. The main altar was consecrated on 6 December 1956 with relics of St. Irenaeus and St. Donatus placed inside it; those relics were replaced during renovations in 2019.

One point of clarification worth making, because the web is misleading on it: St. Michael's remains a distinct and active parish, serving roughly 500 families. Its old web address now redirects to the Cathedral's site, and the two share administration as the Catholic Parishes of East Duluth, but that is shared staffing, not a merger, and this is not a closed or absorbed congregation.

Mass times and program schedules change, and this guide does not publish them without direct confirmation. Contact the parish for current worship times and faith formation.

Architecture: Semi-modified Italian Romanesque. The cornerstone was laid in October 1956 and the main altar consecrated on 6 December 1956; relics of St. Irenaeus and St. Donatus were placed in the altar and replaced during renovations in 2019.

Programs: CHUM

Neighborhoods it serves

Where these facts come from

• St. Michael Catholic Church, Duluth (parish listing) accessed 2026-08-14

Last reviewed 2026-08-14 by Guide editorial.