Let me tell you about a place I fell in love with almost 30 years ago. This area has so much history. The architecture is remarkable. It is lush and green. It is a six-story stone building located in the middle of nowhere. It is nestled along the beautifully scenic Turkey River in Clayton County, Iowa.
Easter, Iowa is one of my favorite places in Iowa. We have passed by this old flour mill called Motor Mill for almost 30 years. However, we had never had the pleasure to see inside this historic building. It has been standing since the 1860’s. To walk back in time, we see how it was used. We also understand why they no longer use it.
Vision behind the Mill
The aspiration was to establish a thriving community. It was aptly named “Motor.” This community was centered around a state-of-the-art milling operation despite the fact that motors hadn’t even been invented yet. Sadly, the community didn’t survive, but the mill remains, and it is probably haunted with stories of the past.
The mill’s short life was plagued with agricultural problems. Bugs destroyed the wheat crop, and natural disasters also struck. The Great Flood of 1882 washed away the railroad tracks before the line was completed. It also flooded the mill’s bottom floor.
Today the mill is run by the Clayton County Conservation Board. It sits on 155 acres of land. The property houses the original mill, cooperage, ice house, inn, and stable. All of these structures are constructed from locally quarried limestone.
Today, the mill is a hub for community events. We stumbled upon these events during our drive. It was a great surprise since we initially intended to only see the mill.
Each time the Turkey River flooded the Mill basement, it left sediment and debris behind when it receded. Excavation of the basement in 2020 revealed the deposited sediment was nearly 9 feet deep.
This is a view from the top floor of the cooperage. What is that you ask? It’s where wooden barrels are made to ship the flour in.
The best part of visiting Motor Mill is there is no gift shop or entry fee. Just raw, unfiltered history as you step back in time to see how flour was ground up. If you’re looking for a quiet little stop, this is a perfect choice. You can hike around the area. You can also enjoy music during a community event. Moreover, you can take part in a living history presentation.To learn more about the mill, visit https://motormill.org/
Eateries in Northeastern Iowa
So where do the locals eat, you ask? Okay, maybe you didn’t ask, but man do we always ask! As luck would have it, I had a local man with me. My husband knew right where to eat. My husband is from this area. Johnston’s in Elkader is somewhere his family always ate. They would visit while growing up in the area. The prices were amazing which gave it a great hometown feel. The service was good. We enjoyed our meal in a small dining room. They can open it up to a larger room for bigger parties. The prices were amazing which gave it a great hometown feel. I can definitely understand why locals love this place!
Crossing the Mississippi
Why did the Scherfs cross the river? Of course, to see the other side!
We were a little worried because we drove on dirt roads that were under construction. We had reached the end of the road and were not sure if the ferry was coming. It turns out, we were the first in line. We had about a 30 min wait and luckily other people were behind us as well.
Stay tuned to find out where we went after we crossed the mighty Mississippi River.If you like what you see, please like it and subscribe to our blog.
Hello, thank you for joining us. If you’re new to the blog, we are a husband and wife team that travels the country and wants to share our travels with you. So welcome to the blog! If you are returning, welcome back as we traveled north from Springfield, Illinois to Iowa. We stopped at Spoon River rest area for a few hours so Andrew could get some work done before we crossed over the Illinois river and into Iowa.
We stopped at our Boondockers Welcome in Muscatine, Iowa. This is a lovely farm that has ponds that are run by the fish and wildlife service. It was wonderful to listen to all the frogs chirping and making music with the crickets during the daylight hours. Over the trees is the mighty Mississippi River. It was a great stay for one night.
Shortly after getting on I80, we traveled by the World’s Largest Truckstop. We didn’t stop this time, but it definitely looks like someplace we should stop next time. It makes me think of a Buckee’s, if you’re familiar.
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
We started off our day early due to storms coming in later in the day. We were able to spend about an hour at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. There was a lot to see, and we had to go briskly. It is definitely a stop along the way worth visiting; how could you not stop if you haven’t seen it! I would definitely plan for a bit longer than an hour next time.
As a former schoolteacher, I always want to see the school room and try to imagine teaching students of different age levels in one classroom. Times were definitely different back then. The only source of heat was from a potbellied wood burning stove at the back of the classroom.
This school room was also used as the town’s first Quaker meetinghouse and later a meeting house was built. The building was divided in half with the men sitting on the right of the partition, while the woman sat on the left. The Quakers didn’t have a paid minister and they didn’t use music either. They had a practice of “silent waiting” which was worshipping in silence. If the spirit moved them, they could share their insight or prayers. Herbert Hoover described this practice as a “strong training in patience.”
Inside the presidential museum, there was so much to see and not enough time. The highlights for me were:
His oval office looks about the same as every other president.
I can’t even imagine trying to get thread around these pins since the pins are so close together.
A little information about the Hoover Dam since we have been there a few times now. If you ever get the chance to take the tour of the dam and go inside of it, it is very worth the money.
We made the walk up the hill to see the resting place of our 31st. president. President Hoover passed away at the age of 90 in 1964 in New York City. Five days later his body was interred on this hillside overlooking his birthplace and presidential library. His wife Lou Henry Hoover died in 1944 in Palo Alto and was moved to rest beside her husband as this beautiful location.
We then landed in the northeast corner of Iowa just before the storms were due to hit. Luckily, we only had rain and some wind but thankfully no tornadoes. We were there visiting family in the area. As we were traveling to our destination, we came across a town named Winthop, Iowa. A little voice in my head told me I know that city. Do you know that voice that talks to you, no? Okay, maybe it’s just me. Well we couldn’t stop because of the storms so we drove there a few days later after the storm. I wanted to go the cemetery. We pulled into the small town cemetery that had maybe 100 plots. There was nowhere to park other than along side the plots. The first plot we saw turned out to be my great grandparents on my father’s side.
As I walked around the cemetery, I found my second great grandfather, a great aunt that died in infancy, a great grand uncle, and my 3rd great grandmother. This was such a huge find for me since my genealogy is like Swiss cheese. I have been on this journey for 50 years to learn who I am and where I came from.
When we were in Iowa about 15 years ago, we came across a grocery store called Piggly Wiggly. My daughter didn’t believe that was the name of the store, so we went inside and got groceries. As a souvenir, she got a bag with the name on it. Now, every time we are in the area, we have to stop.
We visited the small town of Garnavillo, Iowa which is where Andrew lived until he was 18. It’s always nice to go back and see where he came from.
We drove around the Guttenberg Historic Rivertown. It’s a nice place to walk around the Great Mississippi River.
A lot of history in this small river town. The town was originally named Prairie la Porte, in 1883. In 1844 the Western Settlement Society of Cincinnati was an organization that was founded to aid German immigration. The society purchased 300 acres, and a town was born. Later the name was changed to Guttenberg.
Dyersville was established in 1846-47. I would say there are 2 things that make it famous: the Basilica of St. Francis Xavier church and the Farm that became of movie site.
We have been to the movie site several times over the years and in case you want to visit: beware! The movie site does get snow.Major League Baseball built a new field for the Aug. 12, 2021 game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. The ballpark is big enough to hold 8,000 spectators and the design of the park pays homage to Chicago’s Comiskey Park. If you’re in the area and a baseball fan or not, this is a must stop on your roundtrip.
Stayed tuned to our very fast trip home for a surprise. Please hit the subscribe button to be notified when a new blog is posted.
