[1] At the time of its nomination it included three areas: the former lime manufacturing works, a farmstead, and the townsite.

It was a major lime supplier in the state of Iowa for masonry building and bridge construction in the Midwest.

Hurst organized the Maquoketa and Hurstville Railroad in 1888 to ship the burned lime instead of hauling it by wagon.

The limestone was quarried to the east of the kilns across the North Fork of the Maquoketa River.

The Jackson County Conservation Board operates an interpretive center near the kilns.