Duluth Armory

The Duluth Armory at 1301 London Road is a Neoclassical military drill hall built in 1915 for the Minnesota National Guard, featuring one of the largest drill halls in the state at the time of its construction. On January 31, 1959, Buddy Holly performed here as part of the Winter Dance Party tour alongside The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens -- one of the final concerts before all three artists died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959, the event later known as the Day the Music Died. A 17-year-old Bob Dylan, who had been born in Duluth, was in the audience that night.

At the 1998 Grammy Awards, accepting Album of the Year for Time Out of Mind, Dylan recalled the moment: 'One time when I was 16 or 17 years old I went to see Buddy Holly play at the Duluth National Guard Armory. I was three feet away from him.' Holly's death just days later -- and the profound impact of standing that close to him -- has been cited as one of the defining experiences of Dylan's formation as a musician. The armory served as Duluth's largest cultural venue until the Duluth Arena opened in 1966 and hosted concerts, trade shows, and sporting events throughout its active years.

The armory was purchased by the City of Duluth in 1978 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2011. It fell into disrepair in subsequent decades, and a non-profit organisation called the Armory Arts and Music Center has been working since 2004 to restore and repurpose it as a cultural venue. For Dylan and Holly fans, the building on London Road -- now slightly the worse for wear but still standing -- is a significant piece of American music history.