The character of Lincoln Park, Duluth, Minnesota
Part of the Lincoln Park neighborhood guide. Back to the full guide.
Lincoln Park has more going on than any neighborhood in this guide except the East End, and it feels it. The Craft District blocks are busy on evenings and weekends, with people walking between taprooms, and the mix of visitors and residents gives it an energy the quieter east-side neighborhoods do not have.
Off the commercial spine, it reverts quickly to a dense residential hillside: narrow lots, houses close to the street, alleys, detached garages, and a lot of stairs. The upper blocks toward Skyline are quieter and get harbor views. The lower blocks near I-35 and the rail corridor are noisier and cheaper.
The contrast between polished and unpolished is the neighborhood's defining visual feature. A renovated brick building with a new taproom sits down the block from a house that has not been painted in twenty years. That gap is narrowing, but slowly, and anyone touring here should walk several blocks rather than judging from the district core.
A weekend here can be a trail ride at Piedmont in the morning, the waterfall at Lincoln Park in the afternoon, and a taproom in the evening, without driving. Very few American neighborhoods at $113 per square foot offer that.
Landmarks
The rebranded and redeveloped commercial core on West Superior Street, built out with the help of a city loan program targeted to this ZIP code. Anchor businesses include Bent Paddle Brewing, Duluth Grill, Duluth's Best Bread, and Frost River.
Waxed canvas outdoor gear manufactured in the neighborhood, one of the maker businesses that seeded the district's revival.
The stone observation tower on the hillside above, with panoramic views of the harbor and the lift bridge.
The falls in Lincoln Park, a few blocks from the brewery district.
Built in 1926 with volunteer labor from local stonemasons for the community then living on Observation Hill above the neighborhood. The Diocese closed it in late 2010, a local landmark designation was rejected by the City Council, and the building was later listed for sale at $150,000. One of the clearest surviving markers of the immigrant settlement that built this side of Duluth.
Character next door
West along Superior Street, similar affordability with more single-family stock and the high school.
PiedmontUp the hill to the northwest, quieter with the city's most technical trail network.
Duluth HeightsAbove the hill, postwar housing and the Miller Hill retail corridor.
Downtown DuluthSix minutes east, the city's commercial core and waterfront.
Spirit ValleyFurther west, the other West Duluth commercial node at lower prices still.