Duluth’s First Hospital
From blacksmith shop to modern healthcare system
At the height of the Victorian era, Duluth was a promising young city that was desperately in need of a hospital. The typhoid outbreak of 1881 finally made it impossible to continue ignoring the void. A small group from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church took action.
The humble beginnings of a hospital were set up in an old blacksmith’s shop. They called it St. Luke’s, and within a month it was so full that patients often had to share a bed. In 1902, St. Luke’s moved to the corner of East 1st Street and 9th Avenue where it still stands today, well over a century later.
St. Luke’s has grown into a comprehensive healthcare system that serves the communities of northeastern Minnesota, northwestern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Our services include primary and specialty care, a Level II Regional Trauma Center to provide emergency care, a nationally recognized Regional Heart & Vascular Center, as well as a Regional Cancer Center accredited by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer.
As the close-to-home healthcare provider for many, St. Luke’s uses a unique combination of expertise, technology and compassion to provide cost-effective, accessible medical care. We were founded to offer care to all, regardless of race, religion or background. We continue to do that as each doctor, nurse and other St. Luke’s staff members strive to live out our Mission every day: The Patient. Above All Else.
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