Midco Iron Works

Urban exploration in Missouri
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SubLunar
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Midco Iron Works

Post by SubLunar »

Had this mysterious smokestack in the woods pinned for years, finally did some digging and found this awesome article with a couple photos of what's left standing.

Attached is about all you can see from satellite view.

https://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/dent ... 4259c.html

It's definitely on private/residential property and not the kind of place to go snooping around so I'm glad someone went and did the research and published the results.
At its height Midco featured a population of many thousand, dozens of community buildings, an iron mining foundry, wood-reduction chemical plant and 165-foot tall smokestack in the town’s center. The federal government further invested millions in its operations as part of its World War I production effort. In October 1918, the Spanish Flu outbreak in Midco killed several dozen residents and infected thousands more. The impact was so severe the town never fully recovered from the ordeal. In fact, Midco was abandoned to ruins less than three years after the epidemic.
Archived historical documents provide much of the evidence that Midco ever existed. One of the best sources on the subject is a collection of contemporaneous newspaper articles collected and published by the West Carter County Genealogical Society. It details the rise and fall of Midco took place over the span of roughly five years from 1917 to 1922. Other sources available are manuscripts in the archives of the State Historical Society of Missouri as well as federal reports on file with the National Archives.
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Nicotti
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Re: Midco Iron Works

Post by Nicotti »

Ah, mighty master of this silent solitude,

How long canst thou maintain thy barren fortitude?

Standing there amidst cinder, slag and spreading thistle,

Dost thou long for evening whistle?

O monster of mortar, clay, and steel

Tell me what dost thou feel?”

Untitled Ode to the Midco Smokestack

Paul Turley, 1959
Beautiful
More online investigation than onsite exploration these days.

“My dear fellow, who will let you?”
“That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?”
-Ayn Rand
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Chris
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Re: Midco Iron Works

Post by Chris »

I've always wanted to go see this, as well as the old Sligo Iron Works site near Dillard, but there's far less left of that.
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SubLunar
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Re: Midco Iron Works

Post by SubLunar »

Chris wrote: Sat Feb 11, 2023 7:59 am I've always wanted to go see this, as well as the old Sligo Iron Works site near Dillard, but there's far less left of that.
Yeah I've got unspecific pins in the general area for Sligo that merely say: "There was once a town of over 3000 people and and an iron furnace here" and "The company built a furnace along Crooked Creek in Dent County"". The only thing I have been able to find on a cursory search of the area in satellite view is possible slag piles near the creek.

Crazy how there used to be these huge industries and towns only like 100 years ago and now there's basically nothing left of them.
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Chris
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Re: Midco Iron Works

Post by Chris »

Image

Lidar of the area is interesting, but I'd imagine there's not much to see on-site. Might be fun with a metal detector.
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