By Joann M. Ringelstetter
On April 28, 1868, according to an entry in the journal of James O. Crosby, a cable car containing 3-5 tons of quarried limestone creaked and bounced along a set of wooden rails as it was lowered from the top of the bluff to the banks of the Turkey River. As it moved slowly down the side of the bluff, an empty cable car was pulled back up to the top.
Crosby was an attorney and surveyor who platted the once-thriving town of Motor in the northeast corner of Iowa, along with starting a school and attempting to establish a post office. He was also a quarter owner of a six-story limestone grist/flour mill, known as Motor Mill, and a construction engineer during the building of the mill.
The mill was built beside the Turkey River with the limestone that was quarried on top of the bluff. German stonemasons were hired from surrounding towns to dress the stones, cutting them into suitable sizes and surfaces. Then the stones were layered to create foundation walls that were five feet thick. Locally harvested oak trees were used to create enormous support beams. When the walls were complete, they towered 90 feet above the banks of the river.
Operations began at the mill in the fall of 1869. They ground barley, oats, and rye for livestock feed, corn for cornmeal, and wheat for flour. Motor Mill was soon very successful, so other buildings were built to support this thriving business. A limestone cooperage was built near the mill where wooden barrels were made to store and ship flour and corn meal.
A limestone inn was built, just down the road from the mill. It was used by travelers and workers. It also served farmers who came to have their grain ground at the mill.
Next to the inn, a stone livery stable was built to care for the horses of the people staying at the inn.
On the other side of the inn, a limestone ice house was built to store ice blocks that were harvested each winter from the Turkey River. The ice blocks were used in the warmer months to refrigerate food.
In 1899, a Pratt Through Truss steel bridge was built across the Turkey River between the mill and the cooperage. It replaced the original high-sided wooden bridge that was built in 1868.
Despite the booming start to this historic mill and the town of Motor, the mill closed after only 14 years of operation. The closure was caused by several catastrophic events. Cinch bugs and droughts destroyed local wheat crops. Farmers began switching from wheat to corn, cattle, and hogs. The construction of a narrow-gauge railroad, which would have eased the transportation of raw materials and products, was never completed due to flooding, which also damaged the dam. And, worst of all, there was friction and disagreement among the mill owners.
In 1903, the Motor Mill property and buildings were purchased by the Louis Klink family, who converted it to a farm. They removed the milling equipment and some of the flooring to make room for the storage of hay. The other buildings were also used to store hay and grain. And for a while, draft horses were stabled on the first floor of the mill.
Eventually, the livery stable was modified to serve as a dairy barn. For 80 years, the Klink family farmed the Motor Mill site. In 1977, recognizing the historical significance of the site, they nominated it for the National Register of Historic Places. In 1983, the Klink family sold the buildings and 100 acres to Clayton County. In 1992, the county acquired another 55 acres.
In 2004, the Motor Mill Foundation was created, with a mission “to protect and preserve the architectural integrity, history, natural beauty and serenity of the Motor Mill site and its surroundings.” Motor Mill Historic Site is open year-round. However, the buildings are open only for tours and special events.
In the fall of 2019, Motor Mill Historic Site celebrated its 150th anniversary. If you ever get the chance to visit, you won’t be disappointed!
Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Shunpiking To Heaven Backroads Blog
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Thursday, December 19, 2019
A Christmas Message
As time marches on and the years seem to come and go at such a rapid pace, I feel that it is more important than ever, for me at least, to focus on what matters. There will always be a Christmas rush, with people hurrying to complete their Christmas shopping. But Christmas should be more about being with the people we love (in whatever form that takes) and doing things for them rather than the material things we give and get.
Grand gestures are sometimes nice but, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the little things that mean the most. And what seems like a little thing can sometimes be very significant. Listening and recognizing the feelings behind the words can be profound. Anticipating and meeting another’s needs without them speaking a word shows the kind of respect we seem to be lacking these days. And valuing others for their differences, rather than tolerating them or, worse yet, persecuting them, certainly makes the world a better place.
With each passing day, not just at Christmastime, but throughout the entire year, I realize how important it is to be grateful for so many things, especially those we take for granted. For example, the gift of eyesight to view all the beauty in this world, like wildlife or silently falling snow.
Or the gift of hearing birds gently welcoming the dawn or the almost deafening rush of a huge waterfall.
There is a lot of turmoil in our world right now, but I choose to focus on all of the gifts we’ve been given by God or the Universe or however you choose to explain some of the most beautiful and unexplainable wonders in this world. Beauty is all around us. All you have to do is let it in. This Christmas, I wish you the inspiration to do just that.
Merry Christmas and Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Grand gestures are sometimes nice but, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the little things that mean the most. And what seems like a little thing can sometimes be very significant. Listening and recognizing the feelings behind the words can be profound. Anticipating and meeting another’s needs without them speaking a word shows the kind of respect we seem to be lacking these days. And valuing others for their differences, rather than tolerating them or, worse yet, persecuting them, certainly makes the world a better place.
With each passing day, not just at Christmastime, but throughout the entire year, I realize how important it is to be grateful for so many things, especially those we take for granted. For example, the gift of eyesight to view all the beauty in this world, like wildlife or silently falling snow.
Or the gift of hearing birds gently welcoming the dawn or the almost deafening rush of a huge waterfall.
There is a lot of turmoil in our world right now, but I choose to focus on all of the gifts we’ve been given by God or the Universe or however you choose to explain some of the most beautiful and unexplainable wonders in this world. Beauty is all around us. All you have to do is let it in. This Christmas, I wish you the inspiration to do just that.
Merry Christmas and Happy Shunpiking!
Joann
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Hiding in Plain Sight
By Ruth A. Ringelstetter
We’ve known for many years about the tobacco advertising on the buildings around the railroad tracks in Edgerton, Wisconsin. Edgerton became the center of tobacco growing in Southern Wisconsin when dozens of warehouses were built in the late 1800s to early 1900s.
On Labor Day, 2011, we decided to spend the day photographing locally. Our first photos were of things on our list around Madison, Wisconsin. Often, we do this when we read in the paper that some historic business is closing or is in danger of being torn down. Such was the case on this day. But we finished in town early and decided to hit the highway and head for tobacco country to the south.
As we cruised down Highway 51 towards Stoughton, I was looking down at my notebook and the map, as I am often doing, trying to formulate a plan. And suddenly, Joann braked hard and told me to “hold on.” She was going to take the first opportunity to make a U-turn, but she didn’t tell me why. When I asked what I had missed, she told me that she had seen the word “CHEW” on the end of an old tobacco barn.
Well! All these years we had been discussing how odd it was that we didn’t find any tobacco ads on barns around southern Wisconsin, especially considering it had been the state's center of tobacco growing. And now, here was one that had been hiding for years beneath a coat of white paint. And it was along a state highway, which is where we had found them in our travels in other states.
We took a few photos and then continued on our way. As we drove the highway, we discussed that we should get the photos processed soon and report this find to the Mail Pouch Barnstormers group, which tracks all the Mail Pouch signs and their locations across the country.
For some reason, Joann didn’t get around to processing the photos and we didn’t revisit this barn until March 2017 when we were running an errand to Stoughton. Even though it wasn’t our normal route, we decided to take the highway again to check on the barn and snap a few photos.
After we finished our errand in Stoughton, we talked about taking a different route home, but something made us decide to go back up the highway. And boy, are we ever glad we did!
As we approached the location of the barn, we saw what we had missed driving south -- a large Mail Pouch ad painted on the long side of the barn. In the years since our last visit, more of the paint had flaked off all sides of the barn and this sign could be plainly seen. Again, we discussed that we really needed to report this to the Mail Pouch Barnstormers. But somehow, life always seems to get in the way.
We visited the barn again in January 2019 to check on its status and to get some pictures in the snow. Luckily, the barn has a relatively new roof, but hadn’t been repainted to cover up the signs. We took more photos of both the end of the barn, which had the words “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco” and the long side of the barn, which had the words “Mail Pouch” in large letters.
We feel the need to get as many photos as possible in case something happens to the barn. It might get torn down since it doesn’t appear to be used, or it might get painted over and the sign would again be hidden as it had been for many years.
This also makes us feel like we should travel more of the highways around the tobacco towns in southern Wisconsin. What if there are other barns like this one? We usually try to stick to the backroads in our travels because highways are getting so dangerous and wide shoulders often aren’t available, but this sign definitely piqued our interest.
We know tobacco was grown in many counties of southern Wisconsin, so as you travel around on Wisconsin highways, keep an eye out for Mail Pouch advertising signs bleeding through on any old barns or buildings. If you find one, please let us know. And now that we finally have all the photos of this barn processed, we’ll be sure to let the Barnstormers know.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
We’ve known for many years about the tobacco advertising on the buildings around the railroad tracks in Edgerton, Wisconsin. Edgerton became the center of tobacco growing in Southern Wisconsin when dozens of warehouses were built in the late 1800s to early 1900s.
On Labor Day, 2011, we decided to spend the day photographing locally. Our first photos were of things on our list around Madison, Wisconsin. Often, we do this when we read in the paper that some historic business is closing or is in danger of being torn down. Such was the case on this day. But we finished in town early and decided to hit the highway and head for tobacco country to the south.
As we cruised down Highway 51 towards Stoughton, I was looking down at my notebook and the map, as I am often doing, trying to formulate a plan. And suddenly, Joann braked hard and told me to “hold on.” She was going to take the first opportunity to make a U-turn, but she didn’t tell me why. When I asked what I had missed, she told me that she had seen the word “CHEW” on the end of an old tobacco barn.
Well! All these years we had been discussing how odd it was that we didn’t find any tobacco ads on barns around southern Wisconsin, especially considering it had been the state's center of tobacco growing. And now, here was one that had been hiding for years beneath a coat of white paint. And it was along a state highway, which is where we had found them in our travels in other states.
We took a few photos and then continued on our way. As we drove the highway, we discussed that we should get the photos processed soon and report this find to the Mail Pouch Barnstormers group, which tracks all the Mail Pouch signs and their locations across the country.
For some reason, Joann didn’t get around to processing the photos and we didn’t revisit this barn until March 2017 when we were running an errand to Stoughton. Even though it wasn’t our normal route, we decided to take the highway again to check on the barn and snap a few photos.
After we finished our errand in Stoughton, we talked about taking a different route home, but something made us decide to go back up the highway. And boy, are we ever glad we did!
As we approached the location of the barn, we saw what we had missed driving south -- a large Mail Pouch ad painted on the long side of the barn. In the years since our last visit, more of the paint had flaked off all sides of the barn and this sign could be plainly seen. Again, we discussed that we really needed to report this to the Mail Pouch Barnstormers. But somehow, life always seems to get in the way.
We visited the barn again in January 2019 to check on its status and to get some pictures in the snow. Luckily, the barn has a relatively new roof, but hadn’t been repainted to cover up the signs. We took more photos of both the end of the barn, which had the words “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco” and the long side of the barn, which had the words “Mail Pouch” in large letters.
We feel the need to get as many photos as possible in case something happens to the barn. It might get torn down since it doesn’t appear to be used, or it might get painted over and the sign would again be hidden as it had been for many years.
This also makes us feel like we should travel more of the highways around the tobacco towns in southern Wisconsin. What if there are other barns like this one? We usually try to stick to the backroads in our travels because highways are getting so dangerous and wide shoulders often aren’t available, but this sign definitely piqued our interest.
We know tobacco was grown in many counties of southern Wisconsin, so as you travel around on Wisconsin highways, keep an eye out for Mail Pouch advertising signs bleeding through on any old barns or buildings. If you find one, please let us know. And now that we finally have all the photos of this barn processed, we’ll be sure to let the Barnstormers know.
Happy Shunpiking!
Ruth
Photos in this blog post can be purchased as wall art, paper prints, downloads, phone cases, and keepsakes by clicking on the photo. You will be taken to the gallery website where you will see a big blue "BUY" button. Or to see all photos available, click on the "Browse Galleries" button on the menu at the top of this page. Thank you for your interest!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)