Building On The Move

It's not often you see a 1,142-ton building moving down the street, especially one that's three stories tall, 40-feet wide, 100-feet long and made of brick.

But, that's what folks in Washington, Iowa, have witnessed this week as Jeremy Patterson Movers has handled the task of moving the old F.B. Mills Seed Company buidling several blocks to the city's downtown.

I've been in and out of Washington, Iowa, the last 30 years and don't remember ever seeing this building. So, I was curious to learn a little more about it. (See today's Ramblin' column in The Gazette.)

After a telephone call to the Washington County Historical Society, board member Terry O'Neil directed me to Mike Zahs, the local keeper of the county's oral history.

So, I thought it interesting, after Mike filled me in about that building, that he said. "I'd love to have an oral history, to get together with anybody who worked there or whose parents worked there."

I think this is great -- something we need to do with more of our old buildings and landmarks before the people who know about them are gone.

It's doubtful that Mike would find anyone who worked for the F.B Mills Seed Company, since it only lasted about 20 years  in Washington. (The company was founded in Rochester, N.Y., according to my Internet research.) He also might not find anyone who worked at Bruns Seed Company, its successor.

But the building also housed the Curran Company, a local printing firm known for printing and selling those little Valentines we used to exchange with classmates in grade school.

Mike says he's found examples of the Valentines from coast to coast. The company ceased operation in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

Some folks have questioned the wisdom of moving such a large building and turning it into office space and apartments, as owner Jeremy Patterson will do. They say the building is simply a rectangle commonly constructed for industry in its day.

But those buildings could be gone before we know it, so I think it's a great move.

Mike agrees.

"I would say it's historically significant because a lot of people through the years worked there," Mike says. "And it's extremely well built. For a building that's had no maintenance or very little for 100 years it's a marvelous building."