Uncle Harvey’s Mausoleum a.k.a. The Cribs

The Cribs are a major landmark along the Duluth, Minnesota waterfront. There are a number of stories regarding what the Cribs were but in reality it was part of a facility that was used to unload sand and gravel.

Harvey Whitney, one of the Whitney brothers, felt that it would be much more efficient to unload sand and gravel outside the harbor because of congestion in the harbor in the busy summer months. At the time there was talk of building an additional breakwater outside the harbor which would have protected the structure. The Cribs were build in 1919 during a building boom in Duluth. The large cement structure you see was much further out in the lake. Sand was barged to Duluth from the Apostle Islands and Gravel from Grand Marais. the sand and gravel were unloaded out in the lake from a barge tied to the structure. A long conveyor belt ran from the cement structure to land. A series of piers stood between the structure and land and served as a foundation for a conveyor belt that transferred the products to land. The small round pier shown in the photo is the only one remaining.

Unfortunately the building boom ended and the facility was abandoned in 1922. The breakwater was never built and the facility could not withstand the violent storms of Lake Superior.

Today the Cribs are mainly used by swimmers, divers and nesting ducks.