For 97 years, the buildings at 211 S. 2nd St. housed a lumber yard.

In its halcyon days, the yard provided supplies which built many a home and garage in Marshalltown.

Fred L. Ward Lumber, and later, a name change to Iowa Lumber, survived the Great Depression and many, many competitors.

Importantly, it had remained in the same family – the Wards and Heidens – for 76 years, having the distinction of being one of the oldest, continuously operated lumber yards west of the Mississippi.

Now, having been empty for almost three years, it has been reduced to a pile of rubble, the site’s fate unknown.

The property is owned by Emerson Process Management/Fisher Controls, who has extensive property holdings nearby.

All that remains standing of a once prosperous business and local icon is a safe, surrounded by reinforced concrete, said Jeff Heiden, a Marshalltown real estate agent.

Heiden should know.

His late grandfather, Fred L. Ward, came from Chicago and opened the business in 1916.

Heiden’s parents, Charles and Elizabeth, purchased it from Ward in 1979.

“My brother Chris and I grew up in the business,” Jeff Heiden said. “Our niche was selling quality products to contractors.”

Charles and Elizabeth Heiden sold the business in 1992 to the late Scott Pfaltzgraff.

Later, Pfaltzgraff hired Bob “Jake” Jacobson to run the yard while he underwent cancer treatments.

Sadly, Pfaltzgraff succumbed to cancer.

However, his wife sold the business to Jake and spouse Ruth in 1999.

After a number of good years, the Jacobsons sadly announced in March 2013, the decision to close.

The Jacobsons said the doors would be shuttered for good by mid-April.

They said it was a difficult decision, and cited the economy as the chief culprit.

In times good and bad, the Jacobsons welcomed customers with free candy and coffee.

They delivered building materials free of charge and fixed windows too.

Jake, if asked, would help do-it-yourselfers start a project.

“I helped start many a deck project,” he said in 2013.

They prided themselves on selling quality products.

“We carried lumber that was a step up,” Bob said. “I also tried to buy hardware from American companies instead of that made in China.”

A yard fixture was Ed Jordabrek, an employee with nearly 44 years of service under five owners.

“Ed used to joke that he didn’t change jobs, he changed bosses,” Ruth said. “But they (the employees) were all family … Ed was a great guy.”

Iowa Lumber’s closing also represented the end of the last family-owned lumber yard in Marshalltown.

“I told my mother that after being so visible for 100 years, I was sad to see it go,” Jeff Heiden said.