Fond du Lac in Duluth in Saint Louis County, Minnesota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

Fond du Lac

Photographed by Keith L, June 11, 2011

1. Fond du Lac Marker

Inscription. Fond du Lac was incorporated in 1857 and became a part of the City of Duluth in 1895. This is the site of a major Chippewa Indian settlement from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries and is situated on the early canoe route along the St. Louis River from Lake Superior to Lake Vermillion and the Upper Mississippi. Daniel Graysolon, Sieur du Lhut, visited the site in 1679. The American Fur Company established a trading post in 1817. Louis Cass camped here in 1820 while searching for the source of the Mississippi River, as did Henry R. Schoolcraft in 1826. The Chippewa Indian Treaty, negotiated by Cass, was signed at Fond du Lac in 1826. A branch of the Superior-St. Paul Military Road was built to Fond du Lac about 1856, and the first railroad to reach Duluth – the Lake Superior and Mississippi – was constructed through the settlement in 1870.

Erected by the St. Louis County Historical Society
in cooperation with the Minnesota Highway Department, 1956

[Seals of the State of Minnesota Department of Highways and Minnesota Historical Society]

Erected 1956 by the St. Louis County Historical Society

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and Minnesota Highway Department. (Marker Number SL-DUL-242.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Exploration • Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Railroads & Streetcars • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Minnesota Historical Society series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1857.

Location. 46° 39.626′ N, 92° 16.369′ W. Marker is in Duluth, Minnesota, in Saint Louis County. It is in Fond du Lac. It is on West 3rd Street (State Highway 23) west of 130th Avenue West, on the right when traveling west. Marker is at a highway pull-off / roadside parking area. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Duluth MN 55808, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Minnesota’s Arrowhead Region

and in the Iron Range.

It is also in the American Midwest,

on the Great Lakes,

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Great North Woods,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

Photographed by Keith L, June 11, 2011

2. Fond du Lac Marker

Rupert’s Land,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Fond du Lac – Minnesota (approx. ¼ mile away); Geology of the St. Louis River (approx. 2½ miles away); Evergreen Memorial Drive (approx. 2½ miles away); Josiah B. Scovell (approx. 3.8 miles away); Henry C. Hornby (approx. 3.8 miles away); Geology of Minnesota (approx. 3.8 miles away); Minnesota’s Seaport / Welcome to Minnesota (approx. 5.7 miles away); Geology of Duluth Harbor (approx. 5.7 miles away).

Also see . . . Minnesota Department of Transportation. Historic Roadside Development Structures Inventory. (Submitted on June 24, 2011.)

Photographed by Keith L, June 11, 2011

3. Fond du Lac Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on February 12, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 24, 2011, by Keith L of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 2,374 times since then and 70 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 24, 2011, by Keith L of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.