W. J. Young Machine Shop, South Tenth Street & Second Avenue, Clinton, Clinton County, IA

Significance: The W.J. Young Company machine shop building is a two-story industrial structure situated on the Mississippi River in Clinton, Iowa. The building possesses local historical significance because of its direct association through the second half of the Nineteenth Century, with the lumber industry in Clinton. Of the three major mills along Clinton's riverfront, W.J. Young's sawmill operation was the largest and most productive between the years 1859 and 1897. The site of the machine shop marks the northern edge of the old "Lumber District" within the city. The building, itself, is one of only two remaining structures which bear witness to an industry that provided employment for a large portion of Clinton's early population. Constructed in 1888, the shop building could be characterized as "vernacular architecture." The obvious attention given to detail and proportion lend a dignity to the structure not common in other buildings of a similar utilitarian function. Located on its original site, the W.J. Young Machine Shop retains, almost entirely, its original design, and is a fine example of Nineteenth Century industrial structures.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-2
Survey number: HAER IA-14
Building/structure dates: 1888 Initial Construction