We had a full day in Fort Madison IA, which is on the Mississippi River about 30 minutes SE of where we are camping. We took Liberty with us so as not to limit our time away. It was cool and rainy all day so she snoozed in her truck kennel in the back seat very comfortably while we toured.
Fort Madison is very historic. It is the home of location of the first U.S. military fort in the upper Mississippi region from 1808-1813 (hence the FORT Madison); it has a lengthy railroad history and is a stop for Amtrac Chief as well as other rail lines; it has the last remaining double swing-span bridge, located on the Mississippi River called the Fort Madison Toll Bridge. It has a top level for cars and a bottom level for trains; it is also the world's largest. Fort Madison it is a Mississippi river town, there was a battle in 1812 there, it is the home of a very old and beautiful maximum security penitentiary, and it is where Sheaffer Pen Company was born.
Our first stop was the Sheaffer Pen Museum. There was a branch of the Sheaffer Pen Company in Mount Pleasant where I was born, but the main company was here. So what is the big deal about pens? Well back in the day pens were literally a status symbol. Fine quality pens, better known then as "writing instruments", were sold in jewelry stores and pen/pencil sets were given as treasured gifts for various important events. Originally there were no ball point or felt tipped pens, they were called "fountain pens". These pens had to be loaded with "ink" or a "writing fluid" of some sort. Not only did Walter Sheaffer develop a pen with a loading system for the writing fluid that did not involve the messy use of an eye dropper or coin, his company developed a patented writing fluid called Skrip.
The museum here displays the creations of W. A. Sheaffer and the company he developed, and tells their story. He owns the patents for many different types of pens. The museum has over 25 display cases of his most beautiful pens, historical memorabilia, advertisements, and even a working mock-up of the workshop with equipment used to manufacture the various pieces of his pens. A few pictures:
During WWII they made fuses and other materials that supported the war effort
A short video on testing the pens
The Skrip writing fluid
There were many, many show cases of various beautiful pens but I won't post the pictures as this would go on forever. Just know the craftsmanship was awesome. There is apparently a whole world of pen collectors out there. Interesting stuff!
Our next stop was the fort at Fort Madison. Unfortunately the fort is not open at the present time, but we could walk around the outside. Some of the buildings are still there. They have big plans to finish the restoration and open it to the public, but funding has been an issue. As mentioned above, this is the first U.S. military fort in the upper Mississippi region and was in operation from 1808-1813. Fort Madison was the site of Chief Black Hawk's first battle against U.S. troops, the only real War of 1812 battle fought west of the Mississippi. The fort was finally abandoned and burnt as the troops departed to prevent it from falling onto the hands of the Indians. This existing structure is a recreation and not even on the exact site of the original fort.
A diorama of the original fort
From the fort we cross back over the railroad tracks and visited the North Lee County Historical Society. There we met a very delightful gentleman Mr. Andy Andrews. We had been told at the Sheaffer Pen Museum that he probably knows more about SE Iowa history than anyone else. This museum is located next door to the train depot, in the old Santa Fe Railroad Freight Office Building which was in operation from 1930-1968
Mr Andy Andrews actually knows a neighbor of ours from Norwalk,
Newton Standridge, who used to be our Mayor. Small world!
A collection of old firearms
Militaria
Pictures, documents, books, magazines and other historical items
relating to Fort Madison and Lee County
Historical documents of all kinds
Arrow heads
We then headed next door to the Santa Fe Train Depot building. This building also serves as the present day Amtrac train station.
How it looked years ago.
The Amtrac train station waiting room.
The 10:22am train had stopped while we were visiting the fort across the tracks.
Little did I know that the museum part of this building would have a fire flavor to it! I expected train stuff but it is in the building across the tracks that we will visit next. So here we were greeted by "Shea" who is basically the curator and very knowledgeable about most things Fort Madison! They had space in their area of the building so they ended up with the old 1874 Silsby steam fire engine, a hose cart and other fire memorabilia.
Beautifully restored and maintained
All sorts of fire gear and pictures
Rubber fire coat, leather helmet, rubber boots
Various police equipment
Shea and Doreen talking about the city's history
Our next stop was the old train depot which was across another set of tracks, We found it locked, but Shea saw us walking around the building looking for an open door so she came over and led us in.
This is the old depot building and now it just serves as a museum and a place they are storing old items as they organize their displays. Even though everything is not completely organized it is nice they are preserving the history! The focus in here is railroad.
An old luggage cart with old luggage on board!
The dispatch office with telegraph equipment and other signaling equipment
Another part of the dispatch office complete with manual typewriter and ash tray!
More railroad-related displays. Shea and Doreen talking about it
Tools and equipment
The old double swing-span bridge control panel.
Our last stop in Fort Madison was actually a drive-by of the old Fort Madison Iowa State Penitentiary which was closed in 2015. The prison was the oldest operating prison west of the Mississippi River at the time of its closure. A new Iowa State Penitentiary, also in Fort Madison, was opened at that time, and inmates were transferred to the new facility. The facility still exists but has basically been abandoned due to a lack of funding to maintain it. It is therefore closed to the public. So a few pictures of the beautiful limestone structures.
In this archway, before it was filled in, was where the hangings took place, according to Shea. The Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison served as the site of several executions before Iowa abolished capital punishment in 1965. The last execution in Iowa was the hanging of Victor Feguer on March 15, 1963, at this prison. Feguer was a federal inmate who was convicted of kidnapping and killing a physician. His execution marked the end of capital punishment in Iowa for a time, though the federal government still allows for the death penalty.
That concludes our adventures in Fort Madison. On our way out of town Doreen caught a couple pictures of beautiful old structures along the river road. You can almost envision this place 100 years ago.
Tomorrow we plan to visit New London and Burlington.
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