Firing a Lime Kiln

The production lime involved “cooking” the raw limestone in the vertical shaft kilns. In most, but not all cases, wood was the primary fuel in heating the limestone.  This wood was fed into the lower portion of the kiln through two firing (or sometimes three) openings in the lower portion of the kiln,  Limestone passed through the firing zone, and was ultimately drawn from the kiln and moved (via wheelbarrows in the early days) to the lime floor where it cooled and was ultimately loaded for shipping by rail cars.

According to Joel Valle (the latest in several generations of family members who worked in the lime industry (at the Nasbro and Standard Lime and Eden plants here in Wisconsin) and  whom I consider one of the foremost experts on the history lime production in Wisconsin recalls that there was a lot of competition between the men operating the kilns. Joel states:

“It was one fireman per kiln.  Yes the fireman was responsible for firing the kiln and taking the draws.  The firemen would always brag about there kilns and it was a competition  between them to how the kiln would run and the quality of the lime”

Firing a Lime Kiln, Early 20th Century. Location unknown. Photo courtesy of Joel Valle,

Firing door. Standard Lime Kilns, Nasbro, Wisconsin. Note the lever and metal door that covered the fire box. This is the only remaining example of a surviving metal door and lever on a lime kiln that I am aware of,

Nasbro Kilns

One of the last operating stone lime kiln complexes in Wisconsin was located north of Mayville, Wisconsin at a place called Nasbro. These kilns continued in operation until the plant closed in the 1980’s. Five kilns were built by the Western Lime Company. A small town grew up around these kilns (Nasbro), but after the lime operations ceased, the small village was mostly leveled (except for one house). More images from this fascinating operation and history will be following over the next several posts. The image on the left (or top depending on your device) is the back side of the kilns looking south. The other is from the backside looking north. Notice the huge crack that has formed on one of the kilns. Originally, most (if not all) stone kilns had horizontal wooden braces that kept the structure stable. Without these braces these kilns are likely to fail. This one may be the first to go, the others could survive for several more decades.

Nasbro Kilns looking north

Nasbro Kilns Looking south.

My Fascination with Lime Kilns Goes Way Back

As I stated in a previous post, I am resurrecting my photography project documenting the history of the LIme Industry in Wisconsin.This is a fascinating piece of Wisconsin history that not many people know about. Looking back at it, I have always seemed to be fascinated by Lime Kilns. Still fresh in my memory is climbing through the firing holes and into the kilns at High Cliff State Park with my brother Tony. That was back in the early 1960’s (yeah, I am dating myself), only a few years after the kilns ceased production. Like my current project documenting Wisconsin’s vanishing silos, this project will consist of a series of images hand printed with 19th century photo printing techniques (either Van Dyke Brown or Kallitype). To start with here is an image of a Lime kilns from the Standard Lime and Stone company in what was then known as Nasbro in Dodge County Wisconsin.

Introducing My New Project: Early Lime Industry in the Midwest.

About 10 years or so ago, I started a photography project documenting the remaining Lime Kilns in Wisconsin and nearby states. I had the good fortune of meeting Joel Valle who is the unofficial historian of what was then the Western Lime Company. I also had a chance to meet with his grandfather, who had amassed a huge collection of documents and memoirs on Lime operations in Wisconsin and Nasbro in Dodge County Wisconsin in particular. It was a coincidence that I recently came upon this facebook group only a few weeks after I decided to finally getting this project in print and for eventual display in appropriate venues. More to say on that later. For now, I am glad to share this group, dedicated to what was once, and still is a vibrant industry in the State of Wisconsin, with a very fascinating history.