Local lore in Billings Park (Superior), Wisconsin

• The neighborhood used to be called Steel Plant. Its early growth came from the West Superior Iron and Steel Company on the plateau above the river, and the industrial name stuck until the park replaced it.
• It is named after a gift. Frederick Billings donated the riverfront land to the city, and the park's name eventually took over the whole neighborhood.
• The streetcar built the plateau. Billings Park grew outward as the line extended west, which is why the older grid feels tighter near the original core and looser further out.
• The Municipal Forest trailheads are on Billings Drive. Most Superior residents drive to the forest; people here can walk to it.
• The Bong Bridge is the bicycle bridge. Of the two crossings to Minnesota, only the Bong has a separated path, and it lands right at this end of the city.
• You can watch a thousand-foot ore carrier from a city park. The estuary in front of Billings Park is a working waterway, and the view across is Duluth's industrial west side rather than open lake.

Local lore next door

The rest of the guide