A Night at the Kingsley Inn in Fort Madison, Iowa 12/18-19/2007

by Chris Guenzler

After three wonderful nights at the Depot Inn & Suites in La Plata and following an excellent breakfast at the Red Rooster, I went on-line and checked the Southwest Chief, which was running about an hour late. At 10:25 AM, Harold drove me to the Amtrak station to wait for my train to Fort Madison.

First a westbound BNSF freight came through.

Thatwas followed by a westbound Union Pacific double stack train.

I heard an Amtrak horn, but another westbound BNSF freight roared by just as Amtrak came into view from around the corner to the west.

Southwest Chief 4 12/18/2007

The Southwest Chief arrived with engines P42DCs 3 and 147, baggage 1756, sleepers 32115, 32071 and 32043, diner 38050, lounge 33001 and coaches 34090, 34045 and 34029. I boarded and put my bags in the 34090, but rode in the lounge car almost to Fort Madison, reading a couple of chapters of the book "Guiding Light, Jonathan's Story" before solving a pair Sudoku puzzles then relaxing the last few miles to Fort Madison. I detrained here not knowing what to expect.

Looking down the Fort Madison platform.

The existing Santa Fe Fort Madison station which was also a crew change point, built in the 1930's.

Norfolk Southern power on the waiting train to be crewed eastbound.

Motive power behind the station.

The Mississippi River to the east.

Interior of the station.

The two locomotives that were behind the station now passed in front, with Norfolk Southern GP38-2 5501 in the lead.

A westbound Union Pacific train stopped to change crews. About that time, the owner of the Kingsley Inn, Fayek Andrawes, drove up to take me to the inn, after the local taxi company never bothered to return either my or the hotel's calls. He told me the interesting history of Fort Madison and the old town Santa Fe now included in the city. We stopped at a car wash to rinse the salt off the car before going to the Inn.

The Kingsley Inn 12/18/2007

The Kingsley Inn from the northeast.

The hotel across the road.

The front desk.

Thee lobby.

I went up these stairs to get to my room, but let us take a moment to review the history of the Kingsley Inn.

History of the Kingsley Inn

This great brick building at 707 Avenue H was built in the 1860's. It has had many lives before becoming a hotel. From its beginnings as the Windmayer Whiskey & Vinegar Distillery from 1861 to 1895, to a restaurant, a book & wallpaper store to a barber shop in the late 1800's and early 1900's. But in 1910, Troy Laundry moved from 905 Avenue G (current day Pilot Grove Savings Bank) to the present day Kingsley Inn. The business thrived for many years until 1981. Then our building became home to Shilling Electrical Supply for a few years until sitting vacant and becoming the beautiful, historic and elegant Kingsley Inn, in 1990.

Full of history, hospitality and charm, our property sits on the Mississippi Riverfront with majestic views of the Old Fort Madison. Besides being a landmark itself, the hotel is near other places of interest. The old Santa Fe Depot Museum, local wineries and breweries, bird watching and nature areas, fishing, Iowa state rock hunting sites, the Great River Road, railroad fan activities, biking trails, golfing, professional rodeo, ghost hunting and music festivals and many more adventures await!

The Kingsley Inn was started in the location by a group wanting to preserve the riverfront heritage along the Mississippi River in Fort Madison. The rooms are decorated in mid-Victorian style with furnishing from that era. The staircase was rescued from local homes and business, the large mirror in the lobby came from Bernard B. Hesse & Sons Men's Clothing and several faux fireplaces relocated from a small hotel in East St. Louis, and the lobby furnishing came from a lodge in eastern Illinois. Each room is named after one of the historical figures in Fort Madison such as Meriwether Lewis, Zebulon Pike, Francis Scott Key and Mark Twain.

My Room, Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike

This room was named Zebulon Montgomery Pike (1779-1813), an army officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. In 1805 Pike, then an army lieutenant, led a 20-man exploring party to the headwaters of the Mississippi River with instructions to discover the river's source, negotiate peace treaties with Indian tribes and assert the legal claim of the United States to the area. Pike traveled 2,000 miles by boat and on foot from St. Louis to Leech and Sandy lakes in northern Minnesota. He erroneously identified Leech Lake as the river's source.

In July 1806, Pike was dispatched to the Southwest to explore the Arkansas and Red rivers and to obtain information about the adjacent Spanish territory. Pike established an outpost near the site of present-day Pueblo, Colorado and then led his party northwest, where they encountered the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. After trying unsuccessfully to scale the mountain peak later named for Pike, the party proceeded southward to northern New Mexico, where they were apprehended by Spanish officials on the charge of illegal entry into New Mexico. They were escorted across Texas to the Spanish–American border at Natchitoches, Louisiana, where on July 1, 1807, they were released.

Pike’s report on Santa Fe, with information noting particularly the military weakness of the capital and the lucrativeness of the overland trade with Mexico, stimulated the expansionist movement into Texas. Pike served in the War of 1812, attaining the rank of brigadier general. He was killed in action during the attack on York.

The view from my room of the BNSF mainline and Mississippi River.

The bathroom. I watched a little television before going for a walk to see Fort Madison along the Mississippi River.

Before I left, two doors down is the Morning Room where breakfast is served from 7:00 to 9:00 AM on weekdays and 8:00 to 10:00 AM on Saturdays. Sunday breakfast is served at Alpha's Restaurant next door.

Off the lobby is the Emporium, which we will look at later. I then went outside.

My first train was another westbound Union Pacific freight.

Next, a Peoria and Western Railway Company train was making its way east for home rails.

On display in Riverview Park is Santa Fe 4-8-4 2913, built by Baldwin in 1943 and donated to City of Fort Madison in 1959. In April 1960, the engine was dedicated during the 72nd anniversary of the railway's first through train to Chicago and Kansas City

The Santa Fe crossing of the Mississippi River. The bridge is privately owned by BNSF Railway and is the river crossing for the Southern Transcon, BNSF's Chicago to Southern California main line. About 100 trains a day, including Amtrak's Southwest Chief, cross the bridge. Per Coast Guard regulations and the BNSF Fort Madison River Bridge operations manual, river traffic has the right-of-way over train and vehicle traffic on the bridge. The length of time for an opening varies due to weather, river current, size and number of boats, and occasional mechanical problems. A typical opening for a tow with 15 barges will take 15 to 20 minutes. The bridge logs over 2,000 openings per year, an average of more than five per day.

This bridge, unique for its two lanes of vehiclular traffic on the top and double-track rails on the second level, had its beginnings with local businessmen who secured a government charter for a bridge in the late 1850's. They held onto the charter for a little over thirty years years and offered it to the Santa Fe with the stipulation that they cross at Fort Madison. Santa Fe took Fort Madison's offer and started to bridge the Mississippi in 1887. On April 27th, 1888, the first train crossed the original structure into Nauvoo, Illinois. The current 3,140 foot long bridge was built to replace the 1887 structure and was completed in 1927. With a 525 foot swing span, it is the largest double-decker swing span bridge in the world. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Library of Congress Historic American Engineering Record.

The rear of a BNSF train crossing the bridge into Illinois.

The Kingsley Inn from Riverview Park.

Old Fort Madison.

Santa Fe Fort Madison station built in 1910 which houses the North Lee County Historical Society Transportation Museum. It is planned to be the future Amtrak stop and is only three blocks from the Kingsley Inn.