The character of Smithville, Duluth, Minnesota
Part of the Smithville neighborhood guide. Back to the full guide.
Smithville is the quietest neighborhood in this guide, and the rating is not close. There is no through traffic beyond Grand Avenue, no commercial destination, no rail yard, no freeway and no port.
The settlement is small and modest: houses along and above the corridor, the creek through the middle, and woods rising steeply behind. What is above the neighborhood is more dramatic than what is in it, and Bardon Peak is the reason people who are not residents come here at all.
The feel is settled and long-tenured, which is what an 84.8% owner-occupancy rate looks like on the ground. People here have generally been here a while.
A Saturday is outdoors. The Superior Hiking Trail on the ridge, the overlook, Spirit Mountain six minutes north, the Munger Trail south toward Jay Cooke, or the river. In winter it is skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiles. Errands are a deliberate trip in one of two directions.
What is absent is community infrastructure: no shop, no cafe, no school, no confirmed congregation, no community building. This is a residential pocket rather than a village.
Landmarks
The Skyline Parkway overlook on the ridge above the neighborhood, giving one of the best views of the St. Louis River valley in the city. The city's official map places it inside Smithville's boundaries.
A radical labor college operated in Smithville from 1907 until 1941, politically close to the Industrial Workers of the World for most of its existence. It ran as a residential school in a building that had begun as a seminary, and the main building was later converted into apartments. It is one of the more historically significant sites in far west Duluth and almost nothing marks it.
The creek running through the neighborhood down to the St. Louis River.
Character next door
North along the river, sharing the same Census tract and the same owner-heavy river-corridor profile, with direct Spirit Lake frontage.
Morgan ParkEast along the river, the 1913 US Steel company town built almost entirely of concrete block.
Gary-New DuluthImmediately south, the nearest everyday services and the closest published price anchor in the far west.
Norton ParkNortheast, where the Munger and Western Waterfront trails begin and Indian Point gives boat access.
Fond du LacSouthwest along the river, the oldest community in Duluth and quieter still.