About this property
The Mills Tower Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Iowa Falls, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. At the time of its nomination the district consisted of six resources, including two contributing buildings, and four non-contributing buildings. All of the buildings are associated with the Illinois Central Railroad (IC). The Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad, an affiliate of the IC, laid the first rail track to Iowa Falls in 1866. The following year the Iowa Falls & Sioux City Railroad, another IC affiliate, continued construction of the line to the west, and it reached Sioux City by 1870. The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway (BCR&N) by way of its affiliate the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Falls & North Western, entered Iowa Falls in 1880. Two years later it was expanded to the north and intersected with the IC main line, which required a controlled crossing. Little is known about this first crossing and what it contained. Iowa Falls businessman E.S. Ellsworth founded the Des Moines, Iowa Falls & Northern Railroad (DIF&N) in 1899 with the intention of connecting Iowa Falls to Des Moines. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad acquired the BCR&N in 1903, and created the St. Paul & Des Moines Railroad to acquire the DIF&N and to complete the line to St. Paul, Minnesota beginning in 1905. This new Rock Island route created a new Junction with the IC to the east of the original Iowa Falls junction. The two-story frame Mills Tower was built at the new junction about 1909. It was designed by the IC and may have been built by them as well. Offices were located on the first floor, and the control room was on the second floor. The second contributing building is the c. 1912 signal maintainers and supply house. It was used mainly as storage and office space for the switchtender. The other buildings in this district were built later. They include the coal house, oil house, and tool house, all from about 1945, and an outhouse from 1976.
Location
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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.
Everything a full report reveals about Mills Tower Historic District
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Questions about this property
When was Mills Tower Historic District listed on the National Register?
Mills Tower Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 5, 1990.
What type of historic resource is Mills Tower Historic District?
Mills Tower Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Mills Tower Historic District?
The period of significance for Mills Tower Historic District is recorded as the civil_war era, specifically around 1866.
Can I research the history near Mills Tower Historic District?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Mills Tower Historic District will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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