The new canal left Minnesota Point residents without land access to the mainland. A crude suspension bridge was placed across the canal in winters in the 1870s, but that did not solve the problem year around. To address the problem, a bridge was built in 1904 and 1905. The bridge was a very unusual type called an Aerial Transfer Bridge. It features a shuttle car that crosses the canal. The shuttle car could hold cars, buggies, horses, street cars, and up to 350 people. It took a minute to make the crossing, and the shuttle crossed every five minutes. The shuttle itself hung down from the huge upper truss structure via cables. That explains why this lift bridge has that huge upper truss, something that is not found on many other lift bridges.
While the transfer bridge was successful, it did not handle automobile traffic very well. The delays grew to the point where something had to be done. In the years 1929 and 1930, the shuttle was removed, the bridge was raised higher (to accommodate newer taller ships), and a lift span was installed. When in the down position, the lift span could carry vastly more automobiles per hour.
The Aerial Lift Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Over the winter of 1999 and 2000, the Aerial Lift Bridge was given a major overhaul. This included replacing much of the deck, replacing the cables, and repainting the structure.
As an aside, the land that was used for the Duluth Ship Canal was owned by Wilhelm Boeing. He moved from Duluth to Seattle, where his son William founded the famous aircraft company.
