"Lockkeeper's" House

"Lockkeeper's" House is located south of Eldon along the Des Moines River in Davis County, Iowa, United States. Local legend associates this stone house with the Des Moines River Improvement Project, which was conceived to build a lock and dam system along the Des Moines River to make it navigable from the Mississippi River to the Raccoon River at Des Moines. While this is the general location for lock and dam #10, and construction did begin on the complex, there is no evidence that this house was built for the lockkeeper, or that it was even built as part of the project. The lock and dam were never completed here, and the project itself faltered because of corruption. It is possible that stone quarried for the project could have been used to build the house. While local legend may not be accurate, the 1¾-story structure is a fine example of mid-19th century vernacular architecture. The house is unique in that limestone was rarely used in residential construction in this part of Iowa. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.