Iowa All Over: Scenic beauty in Motor, Iowa

Situated just outside Elkader, in unincorporated Motor, the Motor Mill Historic Site features a nearly 90-foot-tall mill, a limestone inn, cooperage, a rock ice house, stable and a bridge.

The six-story mill was the dream of John Thompson, J.P. Dickinson and James O. Crosby. The three formed a partnership to build a grist mill, sawmill and farm town at Hastings Bottom, the site of an earlier sawmill, according to records at Motor Mill.

The mill was built by stone masons who were hired from nearby villages and was completed around 1869. The iron bridge was finished in 1898.

'When they built this mill, they actually platted a town called Motor, so that's why this is called Motor Mill,' Motor Mill Foundation President John Nikolai said.

Motor Mill continued to operate until the mid-1880s, said Larry Stone, secretary of the Motor Mill Foundation.

'Chinch bugs got the wheat crop, and ...

there were floods on the Turkey (River) that wiped out their railroad that they had planned between here and Elkader along the Turkey River,' Stone said. 'About that time, refrigeration was getting started on railroads, so farmers discovered that they could raise livestock, ship meat or milk and it was more profitable than meat, so the economy kind of changed.'

By 1891, Motor was no longer operating as a viable town.

From 1903 until 1983, the Klink family owned Motor Mill and used the structures as farm buildings.

The Motor Mill town was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1983, with the help of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, the Clayton County Conservation board purchased 100 acres at Motor Mill from the Klink family.

The Motor Mill Foundation was formed in 2004, with a mission to 'protect and preserve the architectural integrity, history, natural beauty and serenity of the Motor Mill site and its surroundings.'

A replica of the original 1895 pin-and-truss bridge crossing the Turkey River was completed in 2012. The original bridge was destroyed by the floods of 1991 and 2008.

For Nikolai, the beauty of the historic site is one of its greatest wonders.

'What I enjoy about the site is just the fact of the river flowing through the limestone bluffs here, and the fact that what's unique about the building is (that) all of the stone, all of the construction material was all taken from within an acre and a half,' Nikolai said. 'The whole thing was constructed here in the middle of nowhere.

'When we have an architect come in here …

they look at how this is laid out and how straight and true it is, they are just amazed because of the craftsmanship of the stonemasons that did the work here,' he said.

Stone, who lives close to the site, is a canoeist and fisherman.

'Floating the Turkey River, you come around the bend, kind of like coming down the road, all of a sudden, wow, there's the mill on the bank right ahead of you,' he said.

If you go

What: Motor Mill Historic Site

Where: Galaxy Road, near Elkader

Hours: Tours available two weekends a month beginning May 14, and tours by request when volunteers are available. Site can be seen year-round.

Admission: Free, but donations accepted.

To arrange a tour, call (563) 245-1516.