History and fun at Floyd County Conservation Family Festival
The beehive kilns at the Rockford Brick and Tile Co. near Rockford made the drainage tiles that helped create productive agricultural land in the area. The history of the company, now part of the Floyd County Fossil and Prairie Park Preserve, was explained inside one of the original kilns as part of the Family Festival Saturday. Press photo by Bob SteensonSeveral double-sided panel displays at the beehive kilns at the Floyd County Fossil and Prairie Preserve Park near Rockford explain the process of making the tiles that allowed Iowa land to be drained for agriculture production. Floyd County Conservation held a Summer Festival at the park Saturday with several family activities, including discovering the history of the Rockford Brick and Tile Co. that was located on what is now park property. Press photo by Bob Steenson
By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com
In business from 1910 to 1976, the Rockford Brick & Tile Co. made tiles that helped turn much of the area from sloughs and wetlands into productive agricultural ground.
The tiles it made were quarried from blue shale in what is now part of the Floyd County Fossil and Prairie Preserve Park. In fact, it was the digging for clay for tiles that uncovered the Devonian fossil deposits that have made the site internationally known.
In addition to the fossil-rich shale pits that are part of the county park, there are also two of the original 16 beehive kilns remaining. One of those kilns was open Saturday, filled with information displays and videos about the firing process that made the company’s eponymous brick and tile.
It was all part of the Floyd County Conservation’s Summer Festival at the park, that included several family activities, food vendors and the history lesson about the former Rockford business.
One of the beehive kilns at the Floyd County Fossil and Prairie Preserve Park near Rockford was open to the public Saturday as part of the Floyd County Conservation Summer Festival. Press photo by Bob Steenson
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