MOORE'S MILL

The ruins of Moore's mill

MOORE'S MILL. Prosperous lumber mill in the late 1800s. Martin H. MOORE and Newell S. Moore were two brothers who came to Dubuque in 1865 from Waterloo, Iowa where they had been involved in banking and lumbering. In 1866 they established the Dubuque Lumber Company and in 1867 constructed a lumber mill at a cost of $75,000. Its location was south of Dubuque near an area later called Rafferty slough and in recent years Maus Park. At its peak production, the mill was the second largest milling operation between Minneapolis and St. Louis.

On April 29, 1870 the mill and machinery were destroyed by fire. Adequate insurance and the salvage of most of the lumber in the yard, however, allowed the company to resume business. In 1872 a second fire caused by sparks and cinders from a passing train. The fire resulted in $100,000 in damages. In 1876 a third fire destroyed part of the new mill and an estimated four million feel of lumber. This catastrophe forced one hundred workers each earning $10 per week out of work--a great economic blow to the community. Despite attempts to purchase logs from Tennessee and have them shipped to the mill, the operation was forced to close.

The ruins of the mill including the 150 foot tall smokestack remained visible through the 1930s when the area became a Dubuque's HOOVERVILLE. Residents during the 1950s expressed an interest in preserving the smokestack as a landmark of the lumber industry. In 1964, however, the tower was torn down. Members of the Dock Commission, the City Park Board, and the Dubuque County Conservation Society proposed the creation of a recreational area which later became Maus Conservation Park.

See: DUBUQUE LUMBER COMPANY. (Photo Courtesy: http://www.dubuquepostcards.com)

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Source:

Gibson, Michael. "Yesterday and Today," The Golden View, January, 2011