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Photograph of Dr. Salsbury's Laboratories, Main Office and Production Laboratory Building
Photograph by RifeIdeas, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Dr. Salsbury's Laboratories, Main Office and Production Laboratory Building

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

From the record

“Salsbury's Laboratories, Main Office and Production Laboratory Building, also known as the Floyd County Museum, is a historic building located in Charles City, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.”

Wikipedia article Dr. Salsbury's Laboratories, Main Office and Production Laboratory Building, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 20 National Register listings published here for Floyd County · listed in 1996 · category: Building.

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

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 500 Gilbert St., Charles City, 50616
  • When was it listed? March 1996
  • Category. building
  • City. Charles City city
  • Architectural style. modern architecture
  • National Register reference number. 96000235 - 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.

Fires near this property

9 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Dr. Salsbury's Laboratories, Main Office and Production Laboratory Building between 2006 and 2015, burning about 9 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Smoking1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
20 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
22 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.2 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
18 April 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
11 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
21 March 2015Smoking5.0 acresIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 October 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
26 January 2006Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreIowa Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Floyd County

Mines and quarries near this property

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Dr. Salsbury's Laboratories, Main Office and Production Laboratory Building: 6 past producers, 2 unknowns. None of them still produces. 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
MeyerStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Nims QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
UnknownStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Becker PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
La Coste PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
UnknownSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown

Every working recorded in Floyd County

Storms near this property

60 of 92 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Charles City, the town this property stands in, in 92 storm reports between 1993 and 2026: 38 hail, 21 thunderstorm wind, 18 flood, 7 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. 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 1996HailCharles City1 hurt, $600,000no account filed
April 2026HailCharles City$415,000The public reported baseball sized hail on the east side of Charles City.
August 1997Tornado (F1)Charles City$400,000no account filed
May 2004HailCharles City$250,000no account filed
June 2024FloodCharles City$172,000Significant rainfall later in June pushed the Cedar River at Charles City into flood stage late on June 22nd. The river stage crested during the morning on June 24th in major flood stage at 21.57 ft.
May 2004HailCharles City$150,000no account filed
April 2025HailCharles City$100,000Emergency Management reported 2 inch diameter hail in Charles City.
August 2007Flash FloodCharles City$100,000Water was reported in numerous basements. Flooding was also reported along Highway 18 in the Charles City area.
May 2004HailCharles City$100,000no account filed
August 1994HailCharles City$50,000no account filed
July 2000Thunderstorm WindCharles City$35,000no account filed
July 1999HailCharles City$35,000no account filed
July 1999HailCharles City$25,000no account filed
August 1997Thunderstorm WindCharles City$25,000no account filed
September 2016FloodCharles City$15,000Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Cedar River out of its banks in Charles City. The river crested nine feet above the flood stage at 21 feet.
June 2009Thunderstorm WindCharles City$15,000A semi-truck was blown over on Highway 18 just west of Charles City.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindCharles City$15,000no account filed
May 2004HailCharles City$12,500no account filed
June 2018Thunderstorm WindCharles City$10,000An estimated 60 mph wind gust occurred just south of Charles City. A section of the Avenue of Saints was closed to allow utility crews to repair power lines.
August 2016LightningCharles City$10,000A house fire in Charles City was started by lightning. Damage to the house was minimal and confined to the attic.
June 2011Thunderstorm WindCharles City$8,000A severe thunderstorm produced an estimated 60 mph wind gust. The winds from the storm blew down several large trees across Charles City with one tree falling on a house. Riverside Cemetery was hit especially hard with numerous trees down.
September 2005HailCharles City$7,500no account filed
June 2007Thunderstorm WindCharles City$5,000Trees were blown down. One home was damaged.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindCharles City$5,000no account filed
August 1993Thunderstorm WindCharles City$5,000no account filed
June 2000HailCharles City$4,000no account filed
May 2017Thunderstorm WindCharles City$3,000Numerous trees were blown down in Charles City.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindCharles City$3,000Several large trees were blown down.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindCharles City$3,000One to three foot diameter trees were blown down in Charles City.
July 2003HailCharles City$2,500no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindCharles City$2,500no account filed
May 2012Thunderstorm WindCharles City$2,000Trees were knocked down at the intersection of 8th and Johnson Streets in Charles City.
July 2010Thunderstorm WindCharles City$2,000Several trees were blown down in Charles City by estimated 50 to 60 mph winds.
August 1999Thunderstorm WindCharles City$2,000no account filed
June 1998Flash FloodCharles City$2,000no account filed
April 2004Thunderstorm WindCharles City$1,250no account filed
June 2002HailCharles City$1,250no account filed
May 2004HailCharles City$800no account filed
July 2003Thunderstorm WindCharles City$750no account filed
August 2025FloodCharles City-Heavy rain during the middle of August allowed the Cedar River at Charles City to rise into flood stage during the morning on August 19th. The site crested at 13.48 ft in minor flood stage just after midnight on August 20th before falling below flood stage during the late afternoon on August 20th.
September 2025HailCharles City-The public reported quarter sized hail in Charles City. The report was provided via social media.
May 2024Tornado (EF0)Charles City-Multiple sources reported a very short lived non-supercell tornado south of Charles City, IA. Video footage showed a brief touchdown in an open field. No damage was observed.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindCharles City-An estimated 60 mph wind gust occurred at the fire station in Charles City.
August 2021FloodCharles City-Runoff from heavy rains pushed the Cedar River out of its banks in Charles City. The river crested over four feet above the flood stage at 16.27 feet on the 29th.
August 2021Flash FloodCharles City-Runoff from heavy rains causes several streets in Charles City to become flooded. Some of the streets were impassable.
August 2021Heavy RainCharles City-In Charles City, 4.38 inches of rain fell.
December 2021HailCharles City-Quarter sized hail fell in Charles City.
March 2019FloodCharles City-Runoff from rain and melting snow pushed the Cedar River out of its banks in Charles City. The river crested over three feet above the flood stage at 15.79 feet on March 16th.
April 2018FloodCharles City-Runoff from rain and snowmelt pushed the Cedar River out of its banks in Charles City. The river crested just over the flood stage at 12.1 feet.
May 2018FloodCharles City-Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Cedar River to go out of its banks in Charles City. The river crested less than a foot above the flood stage at 12.73 feet.
September 2018FloodCharles City-Runoff from heavy rains pushed the Cedar River out of its banks in Charles City. The river crested almost two feet above the flood stage at 13.84 on September 22nd.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindCharles City-An estimated 60 mph wind gust occurred west of Charles City.
June 2018HailCharles City-Up to golf ball sized hail fell west of Charles City.
June 2018FloodCharles City-Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Cedar River out of its banks in Charles City. The river exceeded the flood stage twice. The first crest was about a quarter of a foot above the flood stage at 12.24 feet on the 8th. The second crest was a half foot above the flood stage at 12.55 feet on the 10th.
July 2017Heavy RainCharles City-In Charles City, 6.63 inches of rain fell.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindCharles City-An estimated 60 mph wind gust occurred in Charles City.
June 2016Heavy RainCharles City-The COOP observer in Charles City measured 3.48 inches of rain.
September 2016Heavy RainCharles City-The COOP observer in Charles City measured 6.35 inches of rain.
September 2016Heavy RainCharles City-The COOP observer in Charles City measured 3.35 inches of rain.
August 2016FloodCharles City-Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Cedar River out of its banks in Charles City. The river crested just under a foot above the flood stage at 12.96 feet.

Every storm recorded in Floyd 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

6 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
Main Street Bridge0.1 miles1999
Floyd County Court House0.2 miles2003
Central Park-North Main Street Historic District0.4 miles1976
Alvin Miller House0.4 miles1978
Charles City Junior-Senior High School0.5 miles2017
Sherman Nursery Company Historic District0.5 miles2014

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 96000235 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Floyd CountyAll 20 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.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • 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.