Discover Duluth Redux: Enger Park

Originally published June 15, 2007, on DuluthBudgeteer.com.

Perched high atop Skyline Drive, Enger Tower serves as a unifying landmark for many of Duluth’s neighborhoods.

But it’s only part of the reason Enger Park is one of the most popular recreation areas in the city.

Rounding out the park’s famous stone tower are lush gardens (masterfully designed by Helen Lind), views galore and the Ohara Peace Bell.

The bell, which was dedicated June 5, 1994, is a Japanese replica of the centuries-old original that once again belongs to Duluth’s sister city in that country. During World War II, Ohara (now Isumi) donated its bell for a scrap drive, but it was never destroyed. Sailors on the USS Duluth found it and gave it to their ship’s namesake — where it was on display in City Hall until the early ’50s, when a Japanese university dean persuaded Duluth Mayor George Johnson to return it.

Like its bell’s history, Enger Park isn’t without its share of international renown. When the park was dedicated June 15, 1939, Olav, the crown prince of Norway, was in attendance. He was there celebrating the life of successful Duluth businessman Bert J. Enger, a native Norwegian, who had bequeathed two-thirds of his estate to the people of Duluth upon his passing eight years earlier.

It was said that he spent his leisure hours “in admiration of the panorama of Duluth,” so you can see why his park’s tower is such a fitting tribute.

“Discover Duluth” is an ongoing photo essay series by Matthew R. Perrine that highlights points of interest in and around the region.