Lime Kilns in Menomonee Falls, WI

@wiscpoi was at Lime Kiln Park
Located in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
Park Size – 19 acres located on both sides of the Menomonee River next to the original waterfalls.
These kilns were built in 1890
Listed on the national register 1982/03/12
Listed on the state register 1989/01/01

Each of these rectangular kilns, made of rough limestone blocks, have two round vertical shafts lined with firebrick below and iron rings toward the top. Round-arched draw-holes (reconstructed in brick for stabilization) pierce the bottom of each structure on all sides. The horizontal bands of wood have been added to stabilize the structure, and a rubber membrane over the top keeps water out. The limestone was heated to about nine hundred degrees, yielding a powdery calcium-oxide residue. They then mixed this lime with sand and water to make mortar for masonry buildings. Workers shoveled limestone into the shafts at the tops of the kilns and lit fireboxes of cord-wood set into the walls. Once the firing was finished, the workers removed the lime through the draw-holes.