Mau·so·le·um
Welcome to Uncle Harvey's Mausolium which recently celebrated 100 years since it was abandoned and it is looking great!
The nearby plaque tells us about its very interesting history:
"An ale house - a prohibition days casino - a fishing dock; all are erroneous stories regarding the concrete structure still managing to stand in the water.
On Federal lake charts, it is simply referred to as 'cribs'. In fact, it is the ruins of an energetic but short-lived commercial enterprise by Whitney Brothers of Superior, Wisconsin. It was Harvey Whitney's brain-child. The world will now know the true story - an unromantic but intriguing one for sure.
The structure was a sand and gravel hopper, built in the winter of 1919 and abandoned in 1922. It was a frantic era of Duluth construction in 1919 and Harvey was looking for efficiencies for his sand and gravel operation. He didn't like the canal congestion, especially in the heavy summer months. He took a chance that the city would revive efforts to rebuild the Outer Harbor Breakwater which had been abandoned in 1872.
It was a fancy idea. Sand from the lake around the Apostle Islands and gravel from Grand Marais were hauled to Duluth on the scow, LIMIT, using the steam tug William A. Whitney. The LIMIT was tied to the concrete foundation structure and unloaded to the steel bopper with two steam powered clam shells. A large conveyor belt on a trestle carried the materials to shore where they were dropped on top of a tunnel into which the trucks would maneuver for loading. This tunnel is where the casino activity is said to have occurred.
But, Harvey Whitney guessed wrong on the breakwater. For 66 years now the primary use of the cribs has been by scuba divers and nesting ducks. The greatest of the Great Lakes was just too powerful - just too unpredictable. He tried to deal with Superior on its terms - and lost. Thus, his family named it 'Uncle Harvey's Mausoleum.'"
Chears to one of Duluth's strangest structures!
This geocache is generously being watched after by a Duluth geocacher. Thanks to navychief98!