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Photograph of Quasdorf Blacksmith and Wagon Shop
Photograph by Elkman, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Quasdorf Blacksmith and Wagon Shop

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

From the record

“Quasdorf Blacksmith and Wagon Shop, now known as the Quasdorf Blacksmith and Wagon Museum, is a historic building located in Dows, Iowa, United States. The shop was built in 1899 and remained in continuous use until 1990 when Frank Quasdorf willed the building to the Dows Historical Society.”

Wikipedia article Quasdorf Blacksmith and Wagon Shop, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 9 National Register listings published here for Wright County · listed in 1994 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Jct. of Train and W. Railroad Sts., Dows, 50071
  • When was it listed? January 1994
  • Category. building
  • Township. Blaine township
  • Architectural style. Romanesque Revival architecture
  • National Register reference number. 93001545 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Mines and quarries near this property

10 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 10 workings within 5 miles of Quasdorf Blacksmith and Wagon Shop: 8 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Dows QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Denger PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Dows PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Marlowe Oakland PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Meineke PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Patterson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Stuck PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Wright County

Storms near this property

27 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dows, the town this property stands in, in 27 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 15 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 2 tornado, 2 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 1995HailDows$75,000no account filed
June 1997Thunderstorm WindDows$50,000no account filed
June 2025Thunderstorm WindDows$45,000Significant damage to an outbuilding on a farm near Dows. Images found via social media.
March 2005Tornado (F1)Dows$30,000Tornado destroyed a garage and ripped the roof off of a barn northwest of Dows.
April 2024Tornado (EF1)Dows$20,000This tornado entered into Wright County from Hamilton County. The tornado immediately impacted a hog confinement building upon entering the county producing severe damage to the back third of one of the buildings with EF1 damage. The tornado continued northward before a more northwest movement occurred and dissipated shortly thereafter.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindDows$20,000Semi blown over at mile post 154 on I-35.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindDows$10,000Trained spotter reports wind gusts in excess of 60 MPH. Power out in Dows.
April 2008HailDows$10,000no account filed
March 2006Thunderstorm WindDows$10,000no account filed
May 2004Thunderstorm WindDows$10,000no account filed
July 2013Thunderstorm WindDows$5,000A large tree branch was downed. It took out a power line and blocked a road.
July 2003Thunderstorm WindDows$5,000no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindDows$5,000no account filed
April 2014HailDows$3,000no account filed
May 2008HailDows$2,000Report was received from a KCCI TV viewer. Time was estimated.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindDows$2,000no account filed
May 2004HailDows$2,000no account filed
August 2004HailDows$2,000no account filed
June 2025Thunderstorm WindDows-Wind gust measured by an RWIS from the Iowa DOT.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindDows-Williams RWIS report of 50 knot wind.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindDows-Fire department reported large limbs down in town of around 6 to 8 inches in diameter.
September 2018Heavy RainDows-Public reported heavy rainfall of 3.25 inches and still raining as of time of the report.
June 2017Funnel CloudDows-Public reported a funnel cloud looking north of the truck stop near I-35 and Highway 20 interchange.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindDows-Iowa DOT RWIS station measured a 60 mph wind gust.
July 2010Funnel CloudDows-Small short-lived funnels extending less than half way down from the base of the cloud.
May 2010HailDows-no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindDows-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Wright County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

2 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Fillmore Blockunder 500 feet1998
Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Passenger Depot-Dowsunder 500 feet1993

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 93001545 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Wright CountyAll 9 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.