Canton Dam

KEISTER

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 12/1/2010 at 22:07:28

Jackson Sentinel, Maquoketa, Iowa, March 24, 1898

CANTON DAM
The ice went out of the Canton mill pond on Wednesday, March 9, 1898, between 11 and 12 o’clock in the forenoon, doing considerable damage. The ice, which had not broken up in the pond since the first cold weather in the fall was hard crystal ice 20 inches thick. However the melting snows on Tuesday and Wednesday raised the water above five feet and tore the ice away from the shores and banks and set the mass in motion. It first formed a gorge at the head of the island, which for half an hour practically dammed back all the water, but when the gorge gave way, big floes of ice standing on the edge, tree tops and bridge plank mixed in together presented a scene of wild confusion not soon to be forgotten. The current forced its way through on the east shore of the pond, tearing out about 40 feet of the east end of the Canton dam. The balance of the dam, 170 feet, is not damaged. The part of the dam destroyed is known as the old part and has been in about 50 years. The rest of the dam was built new about a dozen years ago.

The mill of J. L. Hudson, which was one of the landmarks of the country, is also a ruin. When the dam gave way the ice seemed to knock out some of the posts and the foundation from the west end of the mill. At the same time a 48 inch turbine wheel was seen to topple over into the current and a few hours after the whole west end of the mill collapsed. A felloe saw costing quite a sum of money, among other things, went down the stream. We have heard no talk about rebuilding the mill, but the dam will be repaired as soon as the weather permits. In fact the lumber is now sawed and partly on the ground.

When the dam broke the water in the pond settled very fast and left thousands of fish stranded among the cakes of ice. One lady, who happened to live near the river, got 19 fine fish with a garden rake. The stranded fish were of all varieties and sizes, though mostly large fish. William Keister obtained a 10 pound “Red horse” and we saw two men each carrying off a 50 pound string of channel cat. A few bass were caught, but not many. It is a safe guess that over 1,000 pounds of fish were picked up within two days.