Bert Onsgard's Zoo
The Lake Superior Zoo of Duluth, Minnesota began in 1923. Bert Onsgard, a local business owner, found an abandoned fawn in the forest. Bert took the deer in and made it a pen near his printing shop. Overtime, the deer’s popularity led Onsgard to envision a zoo in West Duluth.
Onsgard partnered with the city to clear 19 acres of land for a zoo. Fencing was donated by the Pittsburgh Steel Company. The Works Progress Administration constructed buildings for animals and bridges over Kingsbury Creek.
Over the next two decades, the zoo’s popularity grew as more animals arrived. Bessie the elephant would become the all time favorite.
Producer
Issac Goeckeritz
Narrator
Justin Cook
Production Assistants
Joseph F. Hagan
Rebecca Goeckeritz
Archival Materials
Lynn Marie Perry
University of Minnesota Duluth
Kathryn A. Martin Library Archives and Special Collections
Minnesota Historical Society Gale Family Library
St. Louis County Historical Society
Father Richard Partika
Minnesota Digital Library
Lake Superior Zoo
Gallagher Photo
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