They included the Decorah Glove and Mitten Works who operated in the building the same year, 1908, that it was struck by a tornado.

By 1919 they were no longer in business here and the American Drug and Press Association, the Meritol Company, bought the building and expanded it.

[4] The significance of this building is derived from its association with water-powered manufacturing in Decorah, and wool milling in Iowa and the Midwest in the 19th century.

The Upper Iowa River, the source of its water power, flowed by the building until 1949 when the United States Army Corps of Engineers diverted it to the north as a flood prevention measure.

[2] This article about a property in Winneshiek County, Iowa on the National Register of Historic Places is a stub.