On the way out of town we saw two landmarks. The first was the old Sheaffer Pen Plant, built in three stages: an office in 1931, a pen manufacturing plant in 1952 and a shipping depot in 1976. It closed in 2008 and the pens are now made in China after being sold to Bic….
Tag: Fort Madison
Avenue G, Part Two, Fort Madison, Iowa
We make it back down to Avenue G where we again see more Italianate storefronts ling the thoroughfare. And as we have seen before in places such as Macon, Missouri, a Modernist bank building has been inserted into the street wall. There are some more interesting buildings, such as this bank above and below. But…
Avenue F, Fort Madison, Iowa
We then cut down one block to Avenue F on 8th Street, where there are still a plethora of beautiful Nineteenth Century houses. In particular, there are many Second Empire and Italianate houses. Then there’s this massive church. Union Presbyterian Church was founded in 1838, and is one of the oldest of its kind in…
Avenue E, Fort Madison, Iowa
We walked up two blocks to Avenue E, past Central Park, where there is a miniature Statue of Liberty. They even got the little fort at the base correct. Below is the Fort Madison United Methodist; it seems to have had two earlier buildings before this and even purchased their bell from Montgomery Ward. This…
Avenue G, Part One, Fort Madison, Iowa
As part of our continued series of looking at Iowa river towns north up the Mississippi River from St. Louis at the end of the month this summer, we next head to Fort Madison, crossing over a massive bridge combining both rail and road. Fort Madison’s street grid is laid out with numbered streets starting…
Iowa River Towns
Starting at the end of June, at the end of each month the rest of the summer, I will be featuring an Iowa river town north of St. Louis along the Mississippi. These cities, such as Keokuk, have a more direct link to St. Louis, as Union Electric built a hydroelectric dam here just over…