Form No. 10-300 (Rev. 10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DATA SHFfT NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM iiiiilliliill SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOWTO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS NAME Post AND/OR COMMON LOCATION Iowa Twp> Section f 1QON-R4-3W STREET& NUMBER North end of Main Street —NOT FOR PUBLICATION CITY. TOWN ^ CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT) /" \ New Albin _.VICINITY OF «- / ' ) STATE CODE COUNTY CODE / Iowa Allamakee aa-f \ s/ CLASSIFICATION ^— ^ CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS PRESENT USE _ DISTRICT ^PUBLIC —OCCUPIED —AGRICULTURE —MUSEUM _ BUILDING(S) —PRIVATE -XUNOCCUPIED —COMMERCIAL —PARK —STRUCTURE —BOTH —WORK IN PROGRESS —EDUCATIONAL —PRIVATE RESIDENCE —SITE PUBLIC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE —ENTERTAINMENT —RELIGIOUS .^OBJECT _| N PROCESS _YES: RESTRICTED X-GOVERNMENT X-SCIENTIFIC —BEING CONSIDERED _XYES: UNRESTRICTED —INDUSTRIAL —TRANSPORTATION _NO —MILITARY —OTHER: OWNER OF PROPERTY NAME United States Government A . STREET & NUMBER Department of Interior, Geological Survey CITY. TOWN STATE Washington __ VICINITY OF D.C. LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE. REGISTRY OF DEEDS.ETC.(A) Genral Land Office (B.) Archives STREETS. NUMBER Department of Interior Secretary of State of Iowa CITY. TOWN • STA"TATE Washington, D.C. Des Moines, Iowa REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE Establishing, running and marking the northern boundary of Iowa DATE 1849 X—FEDERAL —STATE —COUNTY —LOCAL DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS Tj. s> pept. of Interior, Washington D.C._ CITY.TOWN also Archives, State of Iowa Des Moines [DESCRIPTION CONDITION CHECK ONE CHECK ONE X-EXCELLENT —DETERIORATED ^.UNALTERED .^ORIGINAL SITE —GOOD _RUINS _ALTERED —MOVED DATE_______ —FAIR _UNEXPOSED DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Measuring 54 inches in height. The cast iron boundary marker post has the appearance of a small stone obelisque. John Ross brought it across the Mississippi River from , Victory, Wisconsin on the ice by oxen and sled after which it was placed in position at the spot surveyed by Captain Thomas J. Lee of the U.S. Topographic Engineer Corps. At one time gravel was mined from around it until it attained a precarious position. Since that time, the pits have been filled with sawdust, topsoil added, the ground leveled and planted to grasses. It now is in a cement slab about seven feet square atop a mound. There is a brass inplate at its east base containing the "History of Captain Lee's Iron Monument". It has been painted aluminum with the following inscriptions painted black: North face-MINNESOTA: South face-IOWA; East face-1849 and West face- Lat 43 degrees 30 minutes. The post is located about a block east of the Great River Road and Iowa Highway 26 and the north end of New Albin's main street loops past it to th£ -highway. To the west, between it aHd the highway, runs a double track of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pa­ cific Railroad. There is a city lot between the post and a Bulman farm supply building and tanks; to the east is the downwind modern sewer plant.—-To the northeast there is about an acre of land owned by the town which used to contain the city dump. Near the mouth of the Winnebago-Creek, a-mile from the Upper Iowa River, it is surrounded by beautiful hills as it looks out over the flood plain of the Mississippi River Valley. 01 SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW _PREHISTORIC _ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC —COMMUNITY PLANNING —LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE —RELIGION — 1400-1499 _ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC —CONSERVATION —LAW —SCIENCE — 1500-1599 _AGRICULTURE —ECONOMICS _LITERATURE _SCULPTURE — 1600-1699 _ARCHITECTURE —EDUCATION —MILITARY —SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN — 1700-1799 _ART —ENGINEERING —MUSIC —THEATER —X800-1899 —COMMERCE ^EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT ——PHILOSOPHY —TRANSPORTATION — 1900- —COMMUNICATIONS —INDUSTRY ^.POLITICS/GOVERNMENT —OTHER (SPECIFY) —INVENTION SPECIFIC DATES 1849^ BUILDER/ARCHITECT A. DOWling STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Iron Post was important to the early settlement of the territories of Iowa and Minnesota. It was the reference point for the running and marking of the northern border of the State of Iowa ordered through an act of Congress of March 3, 1849 to help solve boundary problems between Iowa and Minnesota. In 1849 Captain Thomas, Lee place the post at New Albin, Iowa, which was the site of his determination of North latitude 43 degrees 30 minutes by astronomical observation. 43 degrees 30 minutes had been designated the northern border of Iowa by Congress on August 4, 1846. This survey line was a correction line for townships previously established from below in order to avoid double corners on the state line. It served in addition as a practical surveying base for the vast public domain north of it and far to the west of its terminus at the Big Sioux River. "Map of Iowa for 1848-49 with Descriptive Notes", J.B. Newhall MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Annals of Iowa, Vol. XVI, No. 7, January 1929, "Survey, the Iowa-Minnesota Boundary Line", pages 482-487. United States Department of the Interior Geological Survey, "New Albin Quadrangle" "History of Captain Lee's Iron Monument", observed February 27, 1975; Allamakee County Atlas And Directory 1971-1972 GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY ___slightl^_more than one acre UTM REFERENCES A|1.5| I 6| 3, 8| 8, 0, 0| | 4, 8t 1, T! 6. 5, 0| B _____ J__I ZONE EASTING NORTHING ZONE EASTING NORTHING cl , I I I , I i , I I . I . I . I p| . I M . I . I.I.I.. VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES STATE CODE COUNTY CODE Iowa Allamakee STATE Minnesota CODE COUNTY Houston CODE QjFORM PREPARED BY NAME /TITLE Sara K. Smerud ORGANIZATION DATE Allamakee County Historical Society STREET & NUMBER TELEPHONE CITY OR TOWN STATE New Albin Iowa 52160 STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS: NATIONAL__ STATE X LOCAL___ As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE GPO 888-445.