Looking Back: Duluth’s Miller Trunk Highway Then + Now

Highway 53 connects Wisconsin to Minnesota, it takes you up north to connect with Bob Dylan and John Shuster's birthplaces on the Iron Range and then up to International Falls. So much history and change has happened over the years on this stretch of road, it is hard to discuss it all, so we'll focus on the part that connects Duluth to Hermantown.

"Miller Trunk" is the other name this stretch of road in Duluth and Hermantown has. Some of the stores have been on the Miller Trunk for years and have changed by remodeling or expanding. New business has moved to the area and made a name for itself. Some places have a story, and some have been a place for someone to make a start.

Miller Trunk has helped both Duluth and Hermantown grow and change and some of the growth stole the thunder from some of the stores that were downtown and changed the waterfront area because the business district had to adapt.

I have put some of the buildings up with pictures and a little history as I know it and somehow the internet remembers it. Target, The Miller Hill Mall, Skyline Bowling, Super One, and other stores that are staples have made it through the changes, others have forged their own story.

Enjoy this walk down memory lane. Growing up in Duluth, it made me remember some of the places that used to be there.