Drainage tile industry helped till Iowa farmlands
Ten years of drainage work advance as farmers and townsfolk see tile laying transform soils. Fisk Brothers of near Pella built kilns north of Thunder Creek on Sully road, producing hollow small-diameter tiles for ornamental fencing and major drainage. Machines and methods pioneered then still underpin drainage tile layouts today, creating jobs and shaping Iowa’s agricultural landscape.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pella
Fick Brothers
Thunder Creek
Sully
Fisk Brothers
Pelli
Iowa
Art C and Crew Operate Tile Laying Machine
The crew works the tile laying machine with eight hundred twenty five horse power. Art C guides slope with a jack, George rides the capstan sweep, and Fred checks surveyor readings to keep the tile surface even as wheels follow contours. Accuracy in pitch and adjustments of knife and mole ensure consistent tiling across varied terrain.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
George
Art
Fred
Tiling Machine Frame and Drain Tile Invention
Description of a tiling machine showing the frame, coulter or cutting knife, mole, and plug for soil depth control. The device regulates how the mole and plug pass through earth drawing the carrier and tile. Henry Fisk of Pella first conceived the drain tile method years ago.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Henry Fisk
Pella
First Beans Coming Up on Langerak Drainage Project
The Langerak bottom lacks a natural outlet prompting a complex drainage effort extending two prior schemes. Cummings brothers lead water from plural sumps into a larger sump at the seventy acre site, with plans to attach a pump to the REA line postwar to move surplus water toward the river. The project costs about 40 dollars per acre and demands substantial hard labor. Workers lay eight inch tile, dig deep access holes, and coordinate teams. The operation uses a survey, a carrier hand, a tile machine, and four horses to pull the capstan that moves tools through the soil.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Langerak
Art Cummings
Art
Mr. Cummings
Henry Fisk
Bill Jansen
Pred
George
Unclear fieldwork scene with harvest notes and names
A fragmentary report describes a tile laying operation and several farm activities. It mentions George, Art, Fred, and Bill Jansen moving equipment, others digging holes, and a nearby bean harvest with farmers Dykstra, Roorda, Nollen. The piece hints at the Cum Yann the fact and local farm conditions, with aReporter noting a pleasant visit and readers’ potential interest in the scene between Pollas and Otley near the All Dykstra farm.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
George
Art
Fred
Bill Jansen
Polla
Otley
Also Mentioned on This Page
Wiebert Langer
Maine
Ae Cain
Drainine
Dal
Pst
Anney
Ons - Poneto
Bill Janeen
Lasschuit’s Grocery
Pella Public Square
D-X
South Main St
M Hohner
Norge
Dexter
Universal
P. C. Welle
Elbert van M. Nen
Mr. Langerak
Cummings
Nollen
Henry Roorda
Hampshire
J. A. Stovall
New Sharon
Towa Oskaloosa
Tel
Colfax
Colfax Sales Company
Earl Shields
First
Nat'l Bank
H. O. Martin
Marion County
Sean
Elmer
Myron Nollen
Shi
Archie Vernon
Board of Supervisors
McCormick
Milwaukee
Satley
Ford
John Deere
Milton New York
John Flanagan
Sully Cafe
Harry Worth
Kellogg Savings Bank
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!