CRUSHER
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CRUSHER |
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NAME: Crusher COUNTY: Dodge ROADS: 2WD GRID: 9 CLIMATE: Cold and snow in winter hot in Summer BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime |
COMMENTS:
1 mile south of Knowles on private property, you can see the remains of the kilns and crusher from the road. REMAINS: Crusher remains, two kilns and walls of blacksmith shop |
| In the history book of Knowles, it states thus: About 3/4 south of Knowles. A stone quarry was opened by Frank Bauer and August Sterr. They had purchased the land ( 3 acres ) from Mrs. John Zehern. They built a stone crusher on this property near the railroad track. The crusher was able to load railcar gondolas. They probably built it to ship crushed stone to the steel mill in Mayville. In 1898 they had 20 men employed. In 1900 Frank Bauer sold his crusher to Wm. and August Nast. However, according to the abstract, Nick Kummer owned this property, and sold it to Nast Bros. in 1902. An old photo shows that there was one crusher on this property. They operated this crusher and also built two lime kilns. Records show that in 1904 there were 37 men employed there. They built 9 homes for there employees, and this little community was named Crusher. This article was found in the Dodge County Pioneer in 1910. " The new stone crusher for Nast Bros. has arrived from Chicago. It is twice as large as the old one." This crusher had a primary and secondary crusher. It could accommodate railroad cars under it. Many car loads of stone were shipped to the steel mill in Mayville. A great portion of hwy 41 (now 175) in Dodge co. was built with crushed stone from Crusher. The two kilns were also kept operating, to complement the production at the Nasbro plant. In sept. of 1927 the kilns were shut down, and in 1928 when the steel mill in Mayville shut down, the crusher was also shut down. Some employees moved to Nasbro where the plant was still in operation. Others moved away. Some of the homes were sold and moved to other locations, and others were torn down. Slowly through the years the kilns, crusher and other buildings fell apart. In 1969 the quarry was leased to Dodge Co. Later it was leased to Michel's Materials. Some of the early managers of Crusher were Chas Linger and Art Benzel. Fred Thomas was overseer of the Crusher plant and the Nasbro plant until 1928, when he became foreman at the Nasbro plant. Submitted by: Joel Valle |
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