Saint Paul and Duluth Railroad Originally incorporated in 1863 and known as the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad the road provided the first service between Duluth and the Twin Cities upon its completion in 1870. Serving as the all-important eastern terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, the road linked the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. A victim of the panic of 1873, the company defaulted on its bonds and was reorganized in 1877 as the Saint Paul and Duluth Railroad. It was absorbed by the Northern Pacific in 1900.