Joel Dinda's photos with the keyword: docks

The Missabe (now CN) Two Harbors ore docks, from across the harbor. With a gull. I wasn't happy with this photio, so I made it look old.

Why we stay at South Haven's Old Harbor Inn....

South Haven's harbor used to be a conventional port. It had open areas where self-unloading freighters could dump their bulk cargoes, and warehouses which protected incoming package freight and outgoing blueberries. At the end of our hotel's pretty alleyway is a tiny jewelry shop named "The Perfect Setting." The shop lives in an apparently ancient brick building which likely began as some sort of harbor office. Perfect Setting's wall shows an old (1960ish) aerial photograph of South Haven. Of the harborfront buildings shown in that photo, only two seem to have survived into the 21st century: Perfect Setting itself, and this large, also repurposed, structure.

South Haven's harbor, again.

These days South Haven's a tourist and retiree town, mostly, and during the season the harbor's full of sailboats. Of course, most are out of the water by November. But the empty docks have their attractions.

One last Two Harbors photograph, for now. I have many more from this visit, and will post them at a later date. This is the usual view of the harbor at Two Harbors, Minnesota. The Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range docks dominate the view. Camera: Minolta Freedom 100. 1990.

My favorite harbor: Conneaut, Ohio, as it looked in 1991. This was one of the busiest harbors in the world for much of the twentieth century (it's Lake Erie's nearest port to Pittsburgh), and remains busy enough to be interesting. All packed into a remarkably small area . The harbor's not very wide, and less than a half mile long. The black mechanical thingies are Hulett Unloaders --wonderful and improbable contraptions whose mission in life was unloading iron ore from large ships. They'd already been retired when this photo was taken and have since been removed. Self-unloading ships are doubtless more efficient, and are clearly more versatile, but they're far less interesting to watch.

The Duluth docks of the Duluth, Missabe, & Iron Range Railroad. Dock #5 is on the right, and Dock #6 is on the left. I no longer recall what the ship was, though American Mariner or H. Lee White would be good guesses--as would a couple of their fleetmates. Each dock is extends about a half mile into the harbor. Dock 5 is your classic, gravity-driven iron ore dock, while Dock 6 has been converted into a massive, modern, conveyor-driven shiploader. The shiploader permits the dock to service the 1000-foot ships which now dominate the trade. (I commented on this , from another perspective, a few days back.) This photo was taken in 1990 from the viewing platform on the DMIR property. The camera was a throwaway panoramic point-n-shoot. (Since the date on this photo is certainly correct, my recent Soo & Marquette photos are dated incorrectly. I need to figure that out.)