Milwaukee Falls Lime Company

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.[1] The quarry and kilns are now Lime Kiln Park.

Milwaukee Falls Lime Company
Milwaukee Falls Lime Company kilns
Location2020 Green Bay Rd.
Grafton, Wisconsin
Coordinates43.3050°N 87.9555°W / 43.3050; -87.9555
Built1890-1893
NRHP reference No.11001071
Added to NRHPJanuary 27, 2012

History

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. [2][3] By 1900, Wisconsin ranked third nationally in lime production[2] and the company played a major role in the village's economy.[4] 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,[5] and a stone crusher.[2] 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[2][5] and the Grafton quarry and kilns closed in 1926.[4]

The Village of Grafton acquired the site the 1960s and worked to convert it into a park.[4] The northernmost pit was used as an incinerator and landfill in the decades following the quarry's closure, which led to some groundwater contamination.[6] In September of 1996 the steel truss Bridge Street bridge was relocated from its location over the Milwaukee River to the park.[7] 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.[5]

References
  1. "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties". National Park Service. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  2. "History of Lime Kiln Park".
  3. Evans, TJ (2004). "Preliminary bedrock geologic map of Walworth, Racine, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington Counties". Publications Catalog of the Wisconsin Geologic and Natural History Survey.
  4. "Milwaukee Falls Lime Company". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2017-02-07.
  5. "Lime Kiln Dam History".
  6. "2014 Progress Report Lime Kiln Landfill Grafton, Wisconsin".
  7. "LIME KILN PARK | Property Record". Wisconsin Historical Society. 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2020-12-13.


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