Really old pipe breaks, snarls downtown Duluth

A tall ship prepares to embark on Superior Street.

A Duluth, Minnesota, water main originally built in 1887 broke on New Year's Day, flooding a section of Superior Street in Duluth's vibrant downtown. This is causing some trouble for many returning to work today after the holiday. The Duluth News Tribune, among others, has the story. I will never get tired of this photo of a firefighter helping a disheveled hipster through the water. It's an album cover for something; I don't know what.

But it got me thinking. 1887! There were wooden ships in the harbor back then. (Just as there will be masted, wooden ships in the harbor this summer when the Tall Ships return to Duluth July 24-30). That's a long time for a pipe. 

(Tall Ships led the top post list for MinnesotaBrown last year, which is, uh ... coincidental).