July 2023 issue of the Farmworx Magazine

for it to go,” Otto said. “Drainage ditches
had to be dug and tile lines had to
be laid before the sloughs and swamps
of Iowa could be farmed. This started
around 1880 and picked up speed in
the early 1900s as drainage technology
became more advanced.”
Ag leaders like Civil War veteran
and pioneer farmer Jesse Allee, who
settled in the Newell area in 1871,
knew ag drainage would be essential
to the development and prosperity of
the region. “He was far-seeing with
the unshakable belief in the future of
the community’s farm land,” according
to the 1969 Newell centennial history
book at the Allee Mansion south of
Newell. “Jesse worked hard educating
the public to the necessity of proper
drainage if this area was to be a leader
in agriculture.”
Settlers in Greene County faced a
similar situation. “By 1880, many landowners
realized underground drainage
tile was needed to remove the excess
water,” wrote James H. Andrew,
a long-time Greene County farmer
who created the Farm Drainage Tiling
exhibit at the Greene County Historical
Society’s museum in Jefferson before
he passed away in 2014.
As more settlers moved into Iowa
and demand for tile drainage grew, tile
kilns and factories popped up across
the state, Otto noted. Greene County,
like many Iowa counties, had multiple
firms manufacturing clay tile. These
businesses used locally-sourced clay.
These companies included Jefferson
Cement Products Co., which was located
just north of the Greene County
Fairgrounds and operated until about
1930, and Lawton and Mass, which
produced concrete tile at Cooper for a
number of years, starting in 1895.
“There were also small machines
made for farmers to mix concrete and
scoop it into a manually-cranked device
that used metal forms to make
various sizes of tile,” wrote Andrew,
who was known as “Mr. History.” “They
advertised you could make your tile at
home for half the cost of commercial
tile. But it’s doubtful if this was very
successful, since the proper steaming
and curing of concrete tiles is important.”
Drainage districts take shape
Ag drainage in Iowa took a major
leap forward in 1904, when state
legislation provided for the formation
of drainage districts. “Farmers could
always drain their own lands if they
wanted to, but to truly manage drained
water meant cooperation with your
neighbors,” Otto said.
A group of farmers could petition for
a drainage district. An engineer would
survey the land to establish the boundaries
of the area, and a feasible drainage
plan would be developed.
If approved, a contract would be
drawn up, with the cost paid by assessing
each landowner for his or her
fair share, considering his needs and
the acres involved. The county acted
as the administrator of the drainage
district and assessed taxes against the
land, as needed, to pay for the initial
cost and later for the maintenance of
the drainage district. Many times, the
money would be borrowed by issuing
bonds, and the landowners would
make payments on a 10-year plan, Andrew
noted.
“The drainage district plan provided
the larger tile needed for the main arteries
of the system,” Andrew wrote.
“Individual landowners were responsible
for installing and paying for the
lateral tile lines installed on their respective
farms to complete the drainage
plan.”
From 1904 to 1919, an average of
10 new drainage districts were created
per year in Greene County. “That’s a
new district about every five weeks,”
Andrew wrote.
The 1910s became the golden age
of ag drainage when most of Iowa's
public drainage systems were built,
Otto added. “By 1912, Iowa's farmers
had spent more money on drainage
then the U.S. government spent to
build the Panama Canal.”
A Greene County drainage district
created in 1916 to drain 998.7
acres using approximately 3.5 miles
of tile ranging in size from 10 inches
to 22 inches cost of $9,135, [nearly
$256,000 in today’s dollars], said
Michelle Fields, drainage clerk for
Greene County. “A drainage district
created and installed in 2013 drained
865.5 acres using around 2.38 miles of
tile ranging in size from 15 to 24 inches
at a cost $532,500,” she added.
Recalling the life of a ditch digger
By 1920, the formation of ag drainage
districts in Iowa slowed down as
the post-World War 1 ag depression
hit rural America. Still, the work con-
continue on pg. 8
This unique ag drainage tile, which was buried in a field for decades, is displayed at the Greene County Historical
Society in Jefferson.
July 2023
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