National Register of Historic Places

Louden, R. Bruce and May W., House

Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa
Listed
September 11, 2003
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
99000124

About this property

The R. Bruce and May W. Louden House is an historic building located in Fairfield, Iowa, United States. Original construction is in a colonial revival style and the interior was remodeled in an art deco style in 1928. Louden sold the property in 1948, and it was broken into apartments in the 1960s. The house was built in 1905 and was the residence of R. Bruce and May W. Louden until 1948. The house is within walking distance of the Louden Machinery Company, as it was the custom at the time for factory owners to be close to their properties. He was the third president of the company in Fairfield from 1940 to 1951, when he was killed in an auto accident. During that period the company produced overhead handling equipment for American industries during World War II. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. R. Bruce Louden was president of Louden Machinery Company when the firm was contracted to build the assembly line for the world's first [atom bomb], and also the [B-29 bomber], during World War II. The atom bomb assembly line project was so secret that Louden was never told of it during construction, and liaison with the Manhattan Project was through Louden Vice President R. R. Louden, as per one of Louden's grandchildren. In its heyday, Louden Machinery Company was one of the world's largest farm equipment manufacturers and was the largest shipper on the Rock Island Railroad. The founder, William Louden, was a prolific inventor with many inventions to his credit. His hay handling system (the first major invention)was a pulley system on a monorail used to move hay in the mow of the barn, and was the first commercially successful monorail system in the world.

Location

501 W. Adams Ave.
Fairfield, Jefferson County, Iowa
41.00509, -91.96947

Categories

INDUSTRY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Louden, William and Mary Jane, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Clarke, James F., House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Louden, R. B. and Lizzie L., House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Louden Machinery Company
Civil War
0.3 mi
Wells, George A., House
Industrial
0.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Louden, R. Bruce and May W., House listed on the National Register?

Louden, R. Bruce and May W., House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 11, 2003.

What type of historic resource is Louden, R. Bruce and May W., House?

Louden, R. Bruce and May W., House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Louden, R. Bruce and May W., House?

The period of significance for Louden, R. Bruce and May W., House is recorded as the industrial era.

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