History

South St. Paul history teacher mourns demolition of stockyard landmark
The Armour Gates that stood in South St. Paul for over a hundred years are coming down despite efforts to save them. Social studies teacher Mark Westpfahl got his students involved in the push for preservation.
Split Rock Lighthouse lights its beacon to honor the Edmund Fitzgerald and its crew
Two thousand people came to Split Rock Lighthouse along Minnesota’s North Shore on Monday to honor the 29 crew members who died when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank 50 years ago in the roiling waters of Lake Superior.
50 years later, the legacy of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald looms as large as ever
The exact cause of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking is still a mystery, but the lasting legacy is this: There were more than 6,000 shipwrecks on the Great Lakes in the century prior to the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Not one commercial vessel has sunk since.
50 years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 'rock star' ship, sank in Lake Superior
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
New documentary follows divers down to wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald
Executive producer Joe Augustine joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer on Morning Edition Thursday to talk about making the short film and the divers’ theories behind the Fitzgerald’s fate.
WWI soldiers’ messages in a bottle found on Australian beach more than 100 years later
Messages in a bottle written by two World War I soldiers have been discovered on Australia's coast. The Brown family found the bottle on Oct. 9 at Wharton Beach in Western Australia. Inside were letters from Australian soldiers Malcolm Neville and William Harley, dated Aug. 15, 1916.
Record attendance expected for Edmund Fitzgerald memorial ceremony at Split Rock Lighthouse
Organizers of the annual Edmund Fitzgerald memorial ceremony at Split Rock Lighthouse on Minnesota’s North Shore say next month’s event is now sold out — with record-breaking attendance expected on the 50th anniversary of the wreck.
How presidents have changed the White House
President Donald Trump is demolishing the East Wing to make room for a ballroom. His administration says he’s continuing a presidential legacy of White House renovations, but this is the biggest in decades.
Michigan is paying $600K to settle a police case and getting an artifact from a famous shipwreck
The state of Michigan has acquired a life ring that washed ashore 50 years ago from the Edmund Fitzgerald, a rare artifact that strangely became part of a settlement in a lawsuit that had nothing to do with the famous shipwreck.