Between Webster City and Fort Dodge is the small community of Duncombe, the center of a region containing extensive gypsum deposits. The town was laid out in 1869 by the Iowa Falls and Sioux City Railroad Company, and within a short time a number of mining companies were involved in the extraction of gypsum. At the northeast corner of the town's Main Street and Cedar Street is a former bank building (c. 1900). This one-story structure has walls of stone ashlar block arranged between more finely cut stone pilasters. An arched corner entrance centers on a low Ionic column. As one proceeds west on US 20 from Duncombe a small high-tech industrial complex comes into view. It is composed of tanks, towers, and piping. The complex is a Carbon Dioxide Plant run by COOP (c. 1980).
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