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.
PETER J. SEIPPEL LUMBER COMPANY
PETER J. SEIPPEL LUMBER COMPANY.
The company was organized in 1883 with Joseph A. MEUSER and Peter J. SEIPPEL operating in East Dubuque, Illinois. In 1897 the company was reorganized as Robinson and Seippel at 5 South Locust St. in Dubuque.
In 1907 the Seippel Company consolidated with the Meuser Brothers Company keeping the name of the Peter J. Seippel Lumber Company. Seippel was the company president and Meuser served as its treasurer. In 1928 upon the death of Seippel, Meuser became the president.
In 1911 the P.J. Seippel Lumber Company was the largest exclusively retail lumber yard in Dubuque. In contrast to other lumber companies which maintained a number of small yards scattered in small towns throughout their territory, the Seippel company had only one yard located in Dubuque. The Seippel lumber yard constantly kept on hand from 50 million to 60 million feet of sawed lumber and annually shipped 25 million feet of lumber.
The Seippel Company, operating only a planing mill in Dubuque, employed more than two hundred workers. Specialties of the company were hardwood flooring and hardwoods for construction. Lumber, shipped all over the United States, was especially popular with jobbers in Chicago. Soon after its formation, the company was annually cutting fifteen million feet of lumber. The sawmills were located at Stillwater, Minnesota near the base of supply. The trees were cut into logs of marketable sizes and then RAFTING was used to float the logs to Dubuque. The lumber was stored to season in the yards covering twenty-five acres.
In 1912 the Seippel Company had the distinction of owning the last of the LOG RAFTS brought down the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. From that date, all logs were transported by rail. The 1915 Dubuque City Directory listed the address as the corner of S. Locust and Dodge.
The 1959 through 1970 Dubuque City Directory listed 40 S. Locust.
