Milwaukee Falls Lime Company
About this property
The Milwaukee Falls Lime Company is the former owner of a limestone quarry and lime kilns located in Grafton, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The quarry and kilns are now Lime Kiln Park, which also features a pavilion, playground, walking paths, sledding hill, horseshoe pits, and disc golf course. The Milwaukee Falls Lime Company incorporated in 1890, and assumed and expanded operations at the Grafton quarry that had begun in 1845. Between 1890 and 1893, the company constructed five wood-burning lime kilns near the quarry to produce quicklime from the dolomite of the Racine formation found just beneath the top soil along the west bank of the Milwaukee River. By 1900, Wisconsin ranked third nationally in lime production and the company played a major role in the village's economy. In 1915, the company constructed a cement dam on the river to replace an older timber-and-earth dam. The dam's turbine powered equipment that generated power for quarry drills, a tramway, and a stone crusher. In later years, the Tews Lime and Cement Company of Milwaukee purchased the site and managed operations. The lime industry in the United States declined in the 1920s and the Grafton quarry and kilns closed in 1926. The Village of Grafton acquired the site the 1960s and worked to convert it into a park. The northernmost pit was used as an incinerator and landfill in the decades following the quarry's closure, which led to some groundwater contamination. In September 1996 the steel truss Bridge Street bridge was relocated from its location over the Milwaukee River to the park. In 2010, the dam was removed, but the mill race was left intact. During the removal process, an archaeological investigation indicated the site's eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and the property was listed on the NRHP in 2012.
Location
Categories
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 Milwaukee Falls Lime Company
This page lists Milwaukee Falls Lime Company. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Questions about this property
When was Milwaukee Falls Lime Company listed on the National Register?
Milwaukee Falls Lime Company was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on January 27, 2012.
What type of historic resource is Milwaukee Falls Lime Company?
Milwaukee Falls Lime Company is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Milwaukee Falls Lime Company?
The period of significance for Milwaukee Falls Lime Company is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near Milwaukee Falls Lime Company?
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 Milwaukee Falls Lime Company will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
More in Ozaukee County
Historic places, battles, and census history across Ozaukee County.
Explore OzaukeeCounty ›More historic places in Wisconsin
Browse all historic places in Wisconsin.
View Wisconsinhistoric sites ›Wisconsin history
Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.
Wisconsinhistory ›Research the history near this site
An Aubrey US report for an address near Milwaukee Falls Lime Company will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.