Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
MAIZEWOOD
MAIZEWOOD. Unique building material manufactured from cornstalks. Developed through the pioneering work of Dr. Orland Russel Sweeney of Iowa State University, maizewood production created economic benefit from one of Iowa's most plentiful agricultural waste products. Dubuque was the first city in the United States to utilize cornstalks for the manufacture of insulating boards. Built in Dubuque in the 1920s, the Maizewood Products Company was operated by the Maizewood Products Corporation of Chicago, Illinois.
Initially farmers living in the area near Dubuque were offered $9.00 per ton for loose, unbaled stalks or $10.00 a ton if the stalks were baled and delivered to the factory. Once the stalks were delivered, they were shredded and then cooked for two hours under steam pressure of one hundred pounds. The material was then washed and cleaned before again being cut to reduce the length of the plant fibers.
After cutting, the material was again washed and then mixed with rosin to give the finished product more water repellency. Two more refining machines were used to remove coarse pieces and leave the material in a silky condition ready for the final manufacturing step.
The damp material was spread over a screen on the board-forming machine. Excess water was allowed to drain off before the material was put through a press. By now formed into one continuous sheet, the maizewood was cut into twenty-foot lengths before moving into a drier. The boards were then baked at a temperature of 320 degrees, rough edges were removed, and the boards cut into various lengths.
In 1931 the business, which had been busy providing insulation board for the Chicago World's Fair, was destroyed by fire. (1)
The manufacturing plant was later purchased by the Celotex Corporation.
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Source:
1. "Cornstalk Factory Destroyed by Fire," Milwaukee Journal, Dec. 8, 1931, p. 17. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0LJQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OyIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3236,4482393&dq=maizewood+dubuque&hl=en