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Tag Archives: Mills

Gardner Mill

21 Monday Feb 2022

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Mills, NRHP, Salt Lake County, utah, West Jordan

The West Jordan Mill is significant for its association with Archibald
Gardner, a pioneer builder of canals and over 30 mills. Gardner was a
dominant figure in the Salt Lake Valley as an early settler, aiding in the
development of the new communities of Mill Creek, West Jordan, Big and Little Cottonwood, Spanish Fork, Pleasant Grove, American Fork, and others through building sawmills, flour mills, canals, roads, and dams all necessary in establishing productive settlements. His influence extended beyond Utah to Wyoming where he also built five mills. Prominent in politics as well, Gardner served as a delegate to various conventions^ including the drafting of the Utah constitution, and he served in the State Legislature for two terms. He was also a Mormon ecclesiastical leader in West Jordan for 32 years. The West Jordan Mill, which is also significant as one of Utah’s oldest few remaining flour mills, stands as a record of an industry essential to the pioneer agrarian economy and of a time when gristmills were found in almost every Mormon community. Mills were so important to new settlements that the machinery used in the first mill built in Utah was brought with the first company of pioneers. Other mills soon followed, and in about 1848 Gardner built the third” flour mill in Utah which was located at Mill Creek, in southeast Salt Lake Valley. Another mill site to the west of Mill Creek, in present day West Jordan, was chosen by Gardner and! there he moved and in 1853 built his second Utah flour mill. This mill was replaced in 1877 by the more “modern” structure which exists today. The West Jordan Mill is also an example of early industrial vernacular architecture in Utah which simulated on an over-sized scale the formal Federal style used for domestic architecture.
The mill duplicated early homes in style, actually being an oversized frame
house which had been equipped with the machinery and chutes of the flour
industry (much of which still exists). Six other flour mills in Utah are currently listed, or nominated for listing, in the National Register of Historic Places, including: Isaac Chase Mill, Salt Lake County; Joseph Wall Gristmill, Sevier County; E. T. Benson Mill, Tooele County; Huntington Roller Mill, Emery County; Bicknell Gristmill, Wayne County; and the Burch-Taylor
Mill (nominee), Weber County, The West Jordan Mill, although comparable in design to the latter four, represents the only example of the style in the
southern part of the Salt Lake Valley .and the only documented example of an existing mill built by Gardner in the state of Utah.

Located at 1050 West 7800 South in West Jordan, Utah – the mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#82004153) on September 29, 1982.

Archibald Gardner, born in Scotland in 1814, emigrated to Canada with his
family as a boy. At age 17 he undertook to build his first mill. He completed a second mill in Canada before becoming a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), for which he was persecuted by
friends and neighbors. Taking his tools with him, Gardner and his family went to join the Mormon community in their journey west. The pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley in October of 1847 and settled near streams to plant, irrigate, and power the mills essential to community life. Charles Crismon was immediately asked by the church High Council, which allocated and regulated economic rights, to build a gristmill on City Creek. Machinery had been brought with the first company of pioneers, and the mill began to operate as soon as November.

Gardner was involved in building a saw mill at Warm Springs which turned out the first saw-cut board in Utah. But the mill, powered by warm water, was unsuccessful and Gardner moved it to Mill Creek. There, he also built the third flour mill in Utah, two miles below one built by John Neff. Then in
1849-50 Gardner moved to an area almost uninhabited in West Jordan, at the south end of the Salt Lake Valley, to establish a sawmill. At a cost of $5000 he built a two-and-a-half mile long mill race from the Jordan River to power it. Adjacent to the sawmill he erected in 1853 a flour mill also powered by water. Early settlement centered around the West Jordan Mill. Other industries and businesses sprang up including a woolen mill, tannery, and blacksmith shop. The growing population increased demand and led to the decision by Gardner in 1877 to replace the old mill with “a better and more modern one.”

The new flour mill, built on a stone foundation, duplicated early homes in
style. It was actually an oversized frame house which had been equipped with the machinery and chutes of the flour industry. This was common at a time when commercial and industrial buildings shared with their domestic
counterparts the restrained architectural vocabulary of Federal and Greek
Revival styles with their formal balance and symmetry. Thus, in the early
industrial vernacular, a factory differed from a home primarily in scale.

Gardner built over 30 mills in his lifetime, including flour mills, sawmills,
shingle mills, planing mills, and woolen mills. Brigham Young, LDS church
president, once stated that Archibald Gardner and Daniel H. Wells were “doing more to furnish employment than any other two men in the State of
Deseret.” These two made roads and built bridges into the canyons
surrounding Salt Lake Valley making building materials available to the early settlers. Gardner was also very much involved in building irrigation
canals and dams throughout the area, and his capable dispatch of construction projects made him prosperous and a man of affairs. When in 1863 the first silver mining district in Utah was organized by General Connor, Gardner was himself a shareholder and the recorder. When the railroads came to Utah, Gardner contracted to supply ties. As befit a man of his stature in the Mormon community, he took a number of wives, the eleventh and last in 1870, and fathered forty-eight children. Gardner was also active politically. He served as a delegate to various conventions, including the Territorial Convention when a constitution was drafted to organize a provisional state government and apply for statehood. He also served two terms in the state legislature. Also an ecclesiastical leader, Gardner served as Bishop of the West Jordan Ward for 32 years, and was Patriarch of the Jordan Stake.

In 1880 the West Jordan Mill was sold to Jonas Erickson. It was later
converted to a roller mill and apparently sold or leased to Frederich A.
Cooper. Cooper, once miller for Gardner, is listed as proprietor of the mill
in the early 1890’s. In 1894 the West Jordan Manufacturing and Mercantile Co. was incorporated to buy and operate the mill and its surrounding cluster of enterprises which had at various times included a tannery, blacksmith shop, broom factory, mattress factory, woolen mill, sawmill, and general store. Gardner held no stock in the new company, nor did Cooper, although he may have been retained to operate the mill. The mill continued to operate and expand its plant until 1949. In 1967 the West Jordan Milling Co. was disincorporated and the building was used for grain storage until 1975. The current owners are restoring the building and it is being used as a country furniture store. Plans for converting it to a restaurant and further restoring it are underway. Existing machinery, wheels, and chutes will be preserved and incorporated in the décor.

Of the numerous flour mills which once existed in the United States, most of
the small ones are gone and the big ones have become centralized and even
larger. According to Willard Sandberg, in 1920 there were over 10,000 flour
mills in the United States and now there are less than 250.

Grist Mill Burrs

07 Friday Jan 2022

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Flour Mills, Grist Mills, Mills

Located outside the Vernal DUP Museum at the old Tithing Office.

During the hard winder of 1879 flour was scarce in the valley. Flour was hauled from outside towns at great risk. A way to grind flour for the settlers was desperately needed. Two small crude burrs were hand hewn by Moroni Taylor for W.G. Reynolds, they were turned by horse or manpower.

In 1880 the first flour mill using water power was built by W.P. Reynolds and son, W.G. New machinery was purchased and larger burrs (displayed here) operated the flour mill by water power for forty years.

The Old Mill

24 Friday Dec 2021

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Centerville, Davis County, Grist Mills, Historic Markers, Mills, SUP, utah

In 1854 Anson Call of Bountiful erected a Grist Mill on the south side of Deuel Creek, just southeast of this marker. The mill was a three-story building made from Centerville Canyon rock, with the machinery on the top floor. The people brought their grain to be ground into flour, and the miller kept a portion of it as his pay. The power to turn the grinding wheels was generated solely by water flowing down Deuel Creek, which was run into two holding ponds on the hillside above the mill and then piped to a water wheel which turned the drive shaft.

The larger pond also served as a baptismal font for many of the pioneers. In the winter, when the water was frozen solid, ice was cut into blocks and stored in sawdust for use in the spring and early summer.

The first miller of record was a Mr. Southworth, followed by Messrs. Symns, Winn, McKinney, and Miller. For 15 years the mill lay idle until 1890 when Alwood Brown took it over. He renovated it and installed new machinery.

After Alwood Brown left, the mill was run by several others, including Mr. Everett, Mr. Hancock, and finally by Jim Brown. At one time Mr. Everett ran a wholesale bakery in the basement and drove a bakery wagon all over Davis County. He also had an ice-cream parlor, and so on warm summer evenings the young couples of the town would stroll up here for refreshments – and a little spooning. The place was romantic.

The mill was last operated in about 1905. The lumber was removed in the 1930s and the building fell into decay. The walls were blown in by east winds and the structure became dangerous, so it was completely torn down in 1944.

Davis County purchased the site and constructed a storm water debris basin here following the flood of 1983.

Related:

  • Anson Call
  • SUP Historic Markers

Located at 600 East 100 South in Centerville, Utah

Wolverton Mill

12 Sunday Dec 2021

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Historic Markers, Mills, utah, Wayne County

Wolverton Mill

Originally commenced in 1921, the Wolverton Mill was an attempt to realize dreams of an elusive Spanish gold mine hidden in the tops of the Henry Mountains. Edwin Thatcher Wolverton, the mill’s architect, builder, and operator, believed he could find the legendary mine where others had failed. Waiting for the right opportunity, Wolverton was not able to start construction on the mill until he was 60 years old. With the help of his two sons, Wolverton’s dream project became a reality in spite of an old Indian medicine man’s curse:

To whomever reopens these workings will come great calamity. His blood will turn to water, and even in his youth he will be an old man. His squaws and papooses will die, the earth will bring forth for him only poison week instead of corn.

We don’t know if Wolverton ever found his lost mine, but once in a while he would come to town with a little gold. Weather his dreams were realized or not, his mill stands as a unique monument to mining, perseverance, and genius.

Many people, including members of the Wolverton family, worked to complete this reconstruction. A detailed brochure explaining the mill and its operation is available at no charge. We hope your visit will be both informative and enjoyable.

Located at 360 South 100 West in Hanksville, Utah

Frederick Kesler Buildings

03 Sunday Oct 2021

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Mills

  • Box Elder Flouring Mill

Frederick M. Kesler was an important figure in the development of many of Utah’s early industries. Kesler, a native of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, had been apprenticed to a millwright at age 15 and had begun building mills at 19. When his family converted to Mormonism and migrated to Utah in 1851, he was in great demand as a mill builder for the Mormon Church. Most of the mills he constructed were in or near Mormon settlements in northern Utah. Usually his mills were the first industrial buildings in their locales. A distinctive feature of virtually all of Kesler’s mills, including the Box Elder Flouring Mill, is their gabled clerestory roof.

Kesler’s importance as an industrial designer is summarized in the following description of his career:
“He was a self-reliant craftsman as well as an industrialist, inventor, architect, engineer, and man who took advantage of the available resources or opportunities. His talent in building mills and machines and operating them are attested to by the number and variety he either constructed, superintended the construction of, or drafted plans for others to build. These include over twenty flour and sawmills, oil mills, foundries, a nail factory, sugar and molasses factories, carding and weaving mills, a paper mill, blacksmith shops, grain-cleaning machines, a button factory, and others. He also designed and constructed churches, schools, bridges, canals, private homes and shops“.

Most of these projects were completed prior to an accident in 1867 which left Kesler an invalid. Only two of Kesler’s industrial buildings are known to be standing today: the Chase Mill in Salt Lake City and the Box Elder Flouring Mill. The Chase Mill was listed in the National Register in 1970. A c.1980 rehabilitation of that building stabilized it and restored its appearance, but covered over most of the original exterior materials. The Box Elder Flouring Mill is considered the best-preserved Kesler mill in Utah today. (update, 2021 it was demolished.)

Known Industrial Buildings of Frederick Kesler

Box Elder County

  • Saw Mill – Brigham City – Built in 1856 – Demolished
  • Flour Mill – Brigham City – Built in 1855-56 – Demolished 2021

Davis County

  • Linseed Oil Mill – Bountiful – Built in 1859 – Unknown
  • Flour Mill (Kimball) – Bountiful – Built in 1851 – Ruins
  • Sugar Mill – Bountiful – Built in 1861 – Unknown
  • Carding Mill – Farmington – Built in 1856 – Unknown
  • Flour Mill (Richards) – Farmington – Built in 1856-3 – Altered

Cache County

  • Flour Mill (Benson) – Center & 100 West in Logan – Built in 1866 – Ruins
  • Saw Mill – Unknown – Built in 1860 – Unknown

Millard County

  • Flour Mill – Fillmore – Built in 1860 – Unknown

Salt Lake County

  • Saw Mill – Big Cottonwood Canyon – Built in 1855 – Demolished
  • Saw Mill – Big Cottonwood Canyon – Built in 1855 – Demolished
  • Saw Mill – Big Cottonwood Canyon – Built in 1857 – Demolished
  • Saw Mill – Big Cottonwood Canyon – Built in 1857 – Demolished
  • Saw Mill – Big Cottonwood Canyon – Built in 1857 – Demolished
  • Saw Mill – Big Cottonwood Canyon – Built in 1857 – Demolished
  • Saw Mill – Big Cottonwood Canyon – Built in 1857 – Demolished
  • Flour Mill (Empire) – City Creek Canyon – Built in 1862-63 – Demolished
  • Saw Mill – City Creek Canyon – Built in 1855 – Unknown
  • Saw Mill – City Creek Canyon – Built in 1858 – Unknown
  • Flour Mill (Upper) – Parley’s Canyon – Built in 1851 – Demolished
  • Wood/Cotton Mill – Parley’s Canyon – Unknown – Unknown
  • Sugar Mill – Sugarhouse – 1860 – Unknown
  • Nail Factory – Parley’s Creek in Salt Lake City – 1859 – Unknown
  • Paper Mill – Parley’s Creek in Salt Lake City – 1860 – Unknown
  • Flour Mill (Chase) – Parley’s Creek in Salt Lake City – 1849-52 – Still standing

Summit County

  • Flour Mill – Hoytsville – Built in 1860s – Ruins

Wasatch County

  • Saw Mill – Midway (Deer Creek Canyon) – Built in 1857 – Unknown
  • Saw Mill – Midway (La Bonte Canyon) – Built in 1857 – Unknown

Weber County

  • Flour Mill (Farr) – Ogden – Built in 1860-61 – Demolished
  • Saw Mill – Ogden – Built in 1860 – Unknown

Old Flour Mill

22 Tuesday Jun 2021

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DUP, Fountain Green, Historic Markers, Mills, Sanpete County

Old Flour Mill

Fountain Green was settled in 1859 by George Washington Johnson under the direction of Brigham Young. It was dependent upon the water flowing from the springs to the west, known as both Uinta Springs, and the Big Springs.

This is the site of the flour mill built in 1867 by Bernard Snow and Samuel Jewkes and was run by Miller Ole Sorensen. The mill waterwheel was powered by spring water channeled through a flume that filled small wooden throughs on the wheel which turned the millstones inside the mill.

In 1871, the mill was destroyed by fire and replaced by a larger mill built in 1872. People brought wheat or a grist to the mill in exchange for bran, shorts, germade and flour. Fountain Green flour, Phoenix Rolling Mill brand, was of the highest quality and established Sanpete County as the “Breadbasket of Utah.”

1875 brought the addition of a narrow gauge railroad that stopped in Wales, Fountain Green, and Nephi. The railroad berm located to the southeast of the mill formed a commerce hub. The train transported flour and grist, coal from Wales, adobe brick made at the brickyard northeast of the flour mill, livestock, mail and passengers. Ole Sorensen served as the express agent and had the first telephone in Fountain Green.

In 1889, the mill burned again and was rebuilt with an up-grade to produce 40 barrels a day. The new company owners were Charles Foote, Lewis Anderson, A.J. Aagard and Ole Sorensen. Ole Sorensen continued to supervise the mill operations. The mill converted to electrical power in 1903.

Niels Hansen purchased the mill in 1904 and continued operations until 1918. It was then managed by Lawrence Hermansen and others. In the 1930s the mill closed and the lumber and machinery were moved to Gunnison.

This monument is D.U.P. Marker #589 (see others on this page) and was dedicated June 19th, 2021.

Related:

  • See this page for details on the dedication of this historic marker.

Mill Stone

22 Tuesday Jun 2021

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Burr Stones, Ephraim, Mill Stones, Mills

Located in Pioneer Park in Ephraim, Utah, this mill stone is on display with a sign that says:

There used to be a burr mill called the Climax Mill in southeast Ephraim across the creek from Guards Knoll. It was called a burr mill because of the Burr Stones which were used to grind flour. These stones were a very special, hard type of stone found only in Buhr, France.
These stones were made in many sizes usually ranging from 12 to 48 inches. This mill stone (a.k.a. burr stone) came from the yard of the Hermansen home that was located on the corner of 100 North and 100 East in Ephraim. That is where the Ephraim College Student Stake Center now stands.

First Grist Mill Stones

24 Monday Aug 2020

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Fairview, Grist Mills, Mills, Sanpete County, utah

“These are the mill stones from the first grist mill in this area”

It was built in 1863 by Elam Cheney, Sr. a pioneer of 1847. At the request of President Brigham Young he quarried & shaped the stones & moved them & his family to Fairview where he also blacksmithed the iron & carpentered the wood.
The stones were turned by an overshot water wheel with water from the Sanpitch River.
– By the Cheney Family Association – 1965

Lehi Roller Mills

21 Saturday Mar 2020

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Lehi, Mills, utah, utah county

Built in 1906 by George G Robinson, the mill at Lehi Roller Mills is an iconic part of Lehi, Utah’s history and is also well known for being one of the filming locations for the movie Footloose.

Pine Valley

06 Saturday Jul 2019

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DUP, Historic Markers, Lumber, Mills, Pine Valley, utah, Washington County

Pine Valley

In 1855 this valley was discovered by Isaac Riddle an Indian Missionary, while searching for a lost cow. The first sawmill south of the rim of the Great Basin was built on this site in 1855-1856 by Robert Richey, Jehu Blackburn and Isaac Riddle.

The first homes in the valley were erected around the mill. Pine Valley became the source of much of the lumber used in early towns of southern Utah and Nevada.

Daughters of Utah Pioneers Marker #215 Located in Pine Valley, Washington County, Utah

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