I read this today in When Iron Was King:
When Iron Was King in Dodge County, Wisconsin, by George G. Fredrick (Mayville, WI, Mayville Historical Society 1993, citing Mayville News articles).
The Iron Works closed in 1928. The company donated the company baseball team bleachers and grandstand to the City in 1931. Local history expert W.J. Lee has these comments sent to me by email:
Tom: The Park was being developed. Famous Mayville High teacher and football coach Ray Dunn (who was part Native American ) drew up the plans for the football and baseball combined field layout. It was hard work scooping out the hill side and moving dirt to widen the area so the two sports fields were put together. The dirt was moved by horse teams pulling small dirt scrapers. Much like the huge machines we move dirt with today only much, much smaller. Ray Dunn's assistant Coach for football was the head baseball coach, Mr. Whitford. Dunn was the shop teacher and Whitford was the science teacher. Both were very good coaches. So the stands were moved from the Iron Works property off North Main Street way south to the developing City Park above the Pavillion, and they still stand. City Public Works director Mike Kurutz has kept the stands up. Note the new steel roof on the stands. Baseball lovers are fascinated by our stands that take inquiring minds back to another time. The stands stand as sentinels of our past.
