Marathon Pundit: Iowa I Opener: Amana Millrace and the woolen mill

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Iowa I Opener: Amana Millrace and the woolen mill

Amana Woolen Mill

A dark day in the history of the Colonies occurred in 1923 when a spark in Amana's flour mill ignited a fire that spread to the carding house and then to the woolen mill. No one died and the mill was rebuilt, but the expense and an economic downturn--the Great Depression struck rural America ten years earlier--was one of the causes of the end of the commune in 1932, which I wrote about in the prior post in this series.

Amana Millrace

The mill still produces wool, but it is no longer powered by the Amana Millrace, a canal fed by the Iowa River. which is pictured in the photographs on the right. The woolen mill is on the left. According to local folklore, the millrace is deepest at Middle Amana--supposedly the food was better there--which drove the men digging the canal to linger longer.

In 2008, heavy rains caused massive flooding in central Iowa--the millrace overflowed its banks.

Next: Amana cemeteries.

Related posts:

North Shore Channel

Illinois' Hennepin Canal in January
The Illinois & Michigan Canal