Silver Bay Is Making Some Groovy Economic Moves

See foto details at end of page below.

When I first moved to Duluth in 1986 I remember seeing a classified ad for a house in Siver Bay in the Duluth News Tribune (when it used to be a serious newspaper). It was a four-bedroom house with a full basement and garage for $14,000.  We'd just inherited a house, but it sounded like a steal.

Over the course of many years our family travelled up the North Shore, picking up groceries in Two Harbors and doing the the cabin thing just beyond Gooseberry Falls. Silver Bay was an occasional stop, but there wasn't much there. Nestled just above Highway 61 it served as a mining town whose aims were modest. 

Over the years, as new blood staked claims here, there came an awakening interest in being something more than what it had been. Through visionary leadership, some very interesting things have been happening here. 

For the July issue of Business North I contributed a feature story about some of these new developments, using their "Music In The Park" series as a springboard into their broader efforts toward revitalization. The article begins:

Economic development is not just about factories, roads or tax incentives. It is about creating places where people want to gather, linger, invest and ultimately live.

Now entering its sixth summer, Silver Bay’s free concert series “Music in the Park” has quietly transformed Friday nights into a community gathering place, drawing nearly 17,000 attendees over its first five seasons while supporting local eateries, lodging and businesses. What began in 2015 as neighbors hosting house concerts has evolved into an economic development strategy rooted in a simple idea: people are attracted to places where life happens.

Silver Bay is intentionally reinventing itself from a company town into a destination community. Music is one manifestation of that larger transformation. The newly opened Trailhead Center, Black Beach, housing initiatives, Boathouse Bay and community volunteerism are all pieces of the same puzzle. The energy being displayed isn’t about a government program. It’s a story about people deciding that their community’s future can be different from its past.

Read the full article here: The upbeat sound of economic development

Related Link
2026 SILVER BAY MUSIC IN THE PARK CONCERT SERIES

PHOTO CAPTION: Scarlet Rivera and Fredy Argir receive Rocky Taconite bobblehead during their performance in Silver Bay. William Kelley High School Auditorium Stage, 2021 Silver Bay Music in the Park Concert Series, October 1, 2021. 

Photo for Rocky Wall Entertainment by Michael Anderson.