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DULUTHPORT.COM | 15 B O O K R E V I E W Grain Terminal Elevators of Duluth-Superior PHOTOS / University of Minnesota Duluth, Kathryn A. Martin Library, Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections IF ANY SINGLE COMMODITY is most synonymous with today's Port of Duluth-Superior, it would be iron ore, the king cargo contributing approximately half of the port's water- borne tonnage each year. However, this wasn't always the case. More than 20 years before the ore, grain put Duluth-Superior on the map. The Twin Ports' evolution from frontier outpost to the United States' grain-shipping leader is a testament to how geography and transportation infrastructure can shape a region and its economy. Historian and author Patrick Lapinski details that ascension in his new book, "Grain Terminal Elevators of Dulu- th-Superior." A definitive exploration of the topic, Lapinski provides in one volume the full sweep of grain terminal development at North America's farthest-inland seaport, from Elevator A rising on Duluth's waterfront in 1870 and Superior's competitive retort in 1886 through the proliferation that became Elevator Row and national grain-shipping dominance to the ownership changes and challenges of a century later. Along the way, Lapinski details the architectural and mechanical innova- tions in elevator design that revolution- ized grain-handling efficiency at the Head of the Lakes. He also covers the inextricable link between the railroads and Lake Superior, which connected cropland to global markets while making the region and its barons rich. A story filled with roller- coaster rises and falls, Lapinski's telling of the Twin Ports grain tale is certainly the most compre- hensive found from a single source. It will fill your library with bushels of local knowledge and it serves as a strong companion to his previous books, "Great Lakes Shipping Ports and Car- goes," "Ships of the Great Lakes," and "In the Yard: The History of Fraser Shipyards 1892-2017." "Grain Terminal Elevators of Duluth-Superior" is available now at Amazon.com. Duluth's first grain terminal facility, Elevator A, stands outside the ship canal in this Paul Gaylord photo from the 1870s. Designed by Chicago- based elevator architect Joseph Moulton, Elevator A helped launch a grain- shipping boom in the Twin Ports.