Flour Mills and Flour Milling in Utah
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This page was last updated on November 3, 2024.
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(The focus of this page is coverage of all of Utah's flour mills and grain elevators served by railroads.)
Overview
The following description of flour milling comes from the February 23, 1929 issue of the Goodwin's Weekly magazine.
What percentage of hard or soft wheat shall be used by the miller is determined largely by the purpose for which the flour is to be used. Bakers, for instance, desire a very hard flour or one with an extremely high gluten content. On the other hand, the housewife usually desires a flour which is not so "strong" or one which is made from a blend of hard and soft wheat; while for the manufacture of pastry flour nothing but soft wheat is used.
As the wheat is needed for milling, it is carried by machinery from its respective bins and blended - thence into the mill to be sifted many times until it is entirely free from all foreign matter. It then goes into large revolving scouring tanks where every particle of dirt is removed by a terrific force of hydraulic water pressure, it is thoroughly cleaned, even to taking of the fine wheat hairs which are attached to one end of the wheat berry, and only visible under the microscope. The wheat thus polished is next properly tempered by the addition of heat and moisture, the object being to toughen the bran coverings of the kernel to relieve its natural brittleness, and insure its passage through the rolls without becoming pulverized or what is termed "milled to death". Wheat makes better flour if before milling it contains about 13 percent moisture. This procedure also requires the expert direction of the chemist in determining the correct ratio of absorption necessary to the individual texture of the grain.
The wheat then goes through an intricate series of cracking and ruling machines, each one grinding the kernel a little finer. After the fifth "break" the bran is separated from the flour and sold largely as feed for cattle and chickens. When the wheat has completed its journey through the grinding and breaking process it is put through sifters of silken bolting cloth and refined down to the finest degree. The flour is then sacked and sewed and ready for storing without having been humanly touched. Old flour is much better for bread making than new and for this reason the company attempts to hold it in storage for at least sixty days before releasing it on the market.
The relative monetary and energy unit value of flour as compared with meat, is very interesting and instructive. One pound of beef at 54 cents contains about 1200 energy units [calories]. One pound of flour at a cost of 3 cents contains approximately 1600 energy units. The energy ratio per given value by this comparison is shown as 1 to 15 in favor of flour. By comparing flour with all other foods and judging by energy and protein tests, one cannot help agreeing with the old adage that "Bread is the Staff of life."
The following description of Utah flour mills comes from the February 28, 1923 issue of the Ogden Standard Examiner newspaper.
Seven flour and cereal mills, vast grain elevators, stock feed mills and other enterprises have made Ogden the grain and flour milling center of the intermountain states, one of the most important marketing centers in the west. Ogden's flour mills have a present capacity of 4,000 barrels a day.
Three of these mills are among the largest and the most modern of the entire United States, the flour milling plants of the Sperry Flour company and the Globe Grain & Milling company, as well as the cereal plant of the Albers Brothers Milling company.
They are located in Ogden because it was found to be the natural grain assembly point for wheat moving from Utah, Idaho, eastern Washington and eastern Oregon, Montana and some of the central states.
These shipments of grain have brought the possibility of blending various grades of flour. The southeast seeks soft wheat flours, some of the central states seek a blend made from hard and soft wheat, the mountain states desire either the blend of hard wheat flours. All of these are supplied.
Although Ogden has become the grain and flour center of the intermountain states there are other cities which have extensive interests along the same line. Salt lake City holds a high place in this regard - a fact made ore interesting by reason of Salt Lake City having the initial flour mill in the intermountain states, built by Issac Chase and Brigham Young in pioneer days.
In Salt Lake City are plants of the Husler Flour Mills company and the Hylton Flour mills. Grain elevators owned by several companies and offices of the State Milling & Elevators company, Downey Milling & Elevator company, Trenton-Clarkston Milling company and other concerns.
Cache Valley has some of the finest mills of the west including those of the State Milling & Elevator company at Cache Junction, the Thatcher Milling company at Logan and the Preston Milling company at Preston, Idaho. Brigham has two mills. There are plants at Garland, Tremonton, Bear River City, Kaysville, Layton, Provo, Nephi, Lehi - in fact the mills of Utah are scattered from Kanab on the south to the very north edge of the state while Utah grain is milled as well at Preston and Malad, Idaho.
Salt Lake City
Huslers Mill
Huslers Milling & Elevator Company
(Wasatch Roller Mills)
The original Huslers mill was located on the north bank of Mill Creek at the point the creek was crossed by the Territory Road (today's State Street) at about 3000 South. The course of Mill Creek was straightened between the Territory Road (State Street) and the point the creek passed under the Utah Southern Railroad, which had a rail spur that was built along the creek's south bank to reach Huslers Mill on the Territory Road.
The following brief history comes from the February 23, 1929 issue of the the Goodwin's Weekly magazine.
One of the earliest recorded flour mills established in the Intermountain territory was in 1848, built one year after the advent of the pioneers by Charles Crisman, Pioneer mill builder of the colony. This mill was shortly taken over and developed by George Husler, founder of the Husler Flour Milling Company. Through years of industrial evolution this company enlarged this plant into the one that is now known as its "old mill" and still located on the original site of the first historic grist mill started 80 years ago. Recently the company outgrew the parent plant and since has erected a mammoth new mill in the heart of Salt Lake City's manufacturing area.
The old mill of the Husler Flour Milling Company was in reality the first custom roller mill established in the Salt Lake Valley. Heretofore, the grist mill, the ancient and impractical stone crushing method, had supplied the flour needs of this community. The grinding was done by two heavy rotary stone blocks placed together on a wooden pivot.
Huslers Mill was opened by George Husler in about 1860 as one of the pioneering flour mills in the entire Utah Territory. These companies, the flour mill and the adjacent cracker factory, give indication of just how important the growing of wheat and other grains were at one time to the farmers of Salt Lake County. Huslers Mill was one of the first industries south of Salt Lake City to receive its own rail spur when Utah Southern was built through Salt Lake County during the summer of 1871 (ground breaking was on May 1, and the line reached Sandy in early September). The 1890 city directory shows George Husler as the proprietor of the Utah Cracker Factory, and of the Wasatch Roller Mills on the State Road. The 1880 U.S. census shows George Husler, age 42, born in Switzerland, working as a miller in the Mill Creek Precinct.
With the coming of rail service south of Salt Lake City, local businesses started to be developed taking advantage of both rail service and the paralleling Territory Road. In April 1885, George Husler became a partner with Henry Wallace in the startup of Utah Cracker Company. Wallace bought out Husler's interest in April 1892, and Utah Cracker Company became American Biscuit & Manufacturing Company. American Biscuit was a major component in the 1898 formation of National Biscuit Company (Nabisco), and the cracker factory at Huslers remained a big customer of UP rail service throughout the time of its location on State Street.
September 14, 1911
The Husler Milling & Elevator Company was incorporated in Utah on September 14, 1911. The incorporators included R. E. Miller, J. J. Neville, and J. L. Taylor of Salt Lake City, and J. K. Mullen of Denver, Colorado. (Salt Lake County Archives)
March 15, 1917
Colorado Milling & Elevator Company was incorporated in Utah on March 15, 1917. The purpose of the new company was to control the Husler Milling & Elevator company, and the W. O. Kay Elevator company, both in Utah. The Colorado company was controlled by J.K. Mullen, of Denver, known by some as the "Wheat King." Mullen had been in Utah in December 2016 purchasing "practically all of the stock" of the two Utah companies. Also involved in the organization of the new company were "other elevators located throughout southeastern Idaho and northern Utah." The new Colorado company was a holding company, and the names of the controlled companies would not change. (Salt Lake Herald Republican, March 16, 1917, "yesterday")
(At the time, the Husler company was the largest flour milling company in Utah and the intermountain states. The W.O. Kay company was the largest grain storage and elevator company in Utah and the intermountain states.)
March 16, 1917
J.K. Mullen of Denver, and associates have organized the Colorado Milling & Elevator Company. Mullen had been in Salt Lake City in December 1916 making arrangements for the purchase of the W.O. Kay Elevator company, and the Husler Milling & Elevator company. (Salt Lake Herald, March 16, 1917)
March 24, 1917
The Husler Mill & Elevator company sold its property on Lot 14 of Block 33 to the Colorado Milling & Elevator company. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 24, 1917) (Block 33 is at the southwest corner of the intersection of Main Street and Fifth South; this was likely the location of the company offices.)
August 25, 1917
Husler Milling and Elevator Company was dissolved, having satisfied all known claims, as determined by an order of the Third District court in Salt Lake City. All of the stock was controlled by the Colorado Milling and Elevator company and the two companies were formally merged. The local company was now known as the Huslers Flour Mills, and was the Salt Lake City branch of the Colorado company. The address given for the Huslers mill was at 2970 South State Street. The manager of the Huslers company, J. J. Neville, had exchanged all of his stock in the Huslers company for stock in the Colorado company. (Salt Lake Telegram, August 25, 1917, "today"; Salt Lake Herald Republican, August 26, 1917)
Colorado Milling and Elevator company, now owned by its major shareholder. J. K. Mullen, a millionaire living in Denver, also owned the Interocean Elevator company of Salt Lake City. The Colorado company's Huslers company was found guilty by federal officials of profiteering when an investigation found that it had substituted wheat flour for the initial shipments of its new barley flour product, advertising that barley flour was "just as good" as wheat flour. Later shipments were actually barley flour, which did not perform as well as wheat flour and resulted in numerous complaints. The charge of profiteering was dropped after Mullen agreed to pay a fine of $1000. (Salt Lake Tribune, June 26, 1918; Salt Lake Telegram, July 1, 1918)
December 30, 1918
Colorado Milling and Elevator company announced that they would build a new mill on property the company had "purchased for the purpose years ago." The location was on 5th South between 3rd and 4th West. The new mill was to have a milling capacity of 1000 barrels of wheat flour per day (200,000 pounds), and a silo storage capacity of 250,000 bushels. The existing mill near "Thirteenth South" (today's 2700 South) on State Street had a milling capacity of 325 barrels of flour per day, and a storage capacity of 100,000 bushels. The old mill was working at capacity day and night, and would "remodeled and made as modern as possible." The mill on State Street had been built over 50 years before by George Husler, who had operated it for 30 years.
(Read more about Salt Lake County's early street names)
April 10, 1919
"The building of the 1,000-bushel mill at Salt Lake City has long been in contemplation by the Colorado Milling & Elevator Co., of Denver, which now operates about 30 mills in Colorado, Kansas. Idaho and Nebraska This company already controls the Husler company, of Salt Lake City, operating a mill of 300 barrels capacity. The new mill will be wholly separate from the Husler property, and will be an entirely new and modern milling unit." (Ogden Standard, April 10, 1919)
February 23, 1920
The following description comes from the February 23, 1920 issue of the Salt Lake Herald Republican newspaper.
A Landmark In Salt Lake, the Husler flour mill, has been operating at the junction of State street and Mill Creek for more than a generation. Today this mill employs twenty-two men, pays $50,000 wages annually and produces 60,000 pounds of flour and 25,000 pounds of bran in a day.
The mill is owned by the Colorado Milling & Elevator company, and is managed by J. J. Neville. Local deliveries of flour are made with two three-ton Packard trucks and two teams, and a railroad switch has been constructed to facilitate railroad shipping.
A small fifty-barrel mill was built in 1860 on the site of tho present one by a man named Husler. The original mill was of the water wheel type, and was operated for thirty years. In 1890, the Intermountain Milling company bought the mill and in the course of twenty years increased its capacity one hundred barrels per day. In 1909 the Colorado Milling & Elevator company bought the mill.
The present owner increased the milling and storage capacity of the mill, and it produces approximately 21,900,000 pounds of flour and 9,125,900 pounds of bran annually, and has room to store 100,000 bushels or 6,000,000 pounds of wheat.
The capacity of the Husler mill is not great enough to meet the demand made upon it. According to Mr. Neville, the Husler mill's flour is sold from coast to coast and from Gulf to Canadian border. The demand is steadily increasing and as the United States Grain corporation has begun to purchase flour, the demand upon the Husler mill will be heavy. Because of this condition, the Colorado Milling & Elevator company has drawn plans for the erection here of a 1000-barrel mill, which will coat a half million dollars.
Husler's High Patent flour is the best seller of the Husler mill, and according to Mr. Neville, the high quality of this product is maintained by the use of the best obtainable machinery and by a careful selection and blending of heat. None of the Husler flour is sold through jobbers save in the south, because of the small margin of profit which is allowed for the handling of flour.
Every year 450,000 bushels or 27,000,000 pounds of wheat come into this mill, go through numerous cleaning, dampening, screening and grinding processes to be converted into high quality flour. Every day samples of flour are taken from the mill, tested chemically and baked in order to make sure that the best possible flour is being milled.
The Husler mill secures 30 percent of its power from the flow of the waters of Mill creek, which for sixty years has been faithfully grinding flour for the people of Salt Lake, and is now grinding flour for the people of world.
The Husler mill secures its wheat from Utah and Idaho, and on account of the relative scarcity of wheat last year was compelled to purchase large quantities of Colorado wheat to make up the deficiency. According to Mr. Neville, practically all Salt Lake grocers handle Husler's flour and the demand for it to be increasing.
February 25, 1923
"The Husler concern has secured a new site at Fifth South and Third West streets, 500 feet on Fifth South street and 165 feet on Third West street, and will there build of concrete and steel, as soon as the machinery and building supplies arrive, a strictly up-to-date milling plant. The cost of this new enterprise will be $500,000." "The Burrell Engineering & Milling company of Chicago, specialists in building and equipping flour mills, has the contract for the construction. All cement and building material used will be purchased in Salt Lake." "Union Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande Western trackage to the mill site has already been arranged for." (Salt Lake Tribune, February 25, 1923)
The mill facility at 425 West 500 South was reportedly constructed by the Husler Milling & Elevator Company when it relocated its operations from its original mill on 1300 South in 1923. However, the parent company of Husler—Colorado Milling & Elevator Company—purchased the land from the W.O. Kay Elevator Company in 1917; it is possible some portion of the factory was constructed by the W.O. Kay Elevator Company prior to the sale of the land for operations of the Husler Company. Husler's improvements to the land reportedly cost roughly $500,000, suggesting most of the buildings and structures on the property were constructed at that time. At various times the mill was known as the Utah Flour Company, the Salt Lake Flour Mills, and the Peavey Company mills. In late 1952, the property was deeded to the United Biscuit Company of America, which later became the Keebler Company. The facility is currently owned and operated by Cereal Food Processors, Inc. (Salt Lake County Archives 2015)
May 15, 1924
The new Husler Flour Mill opened "officially" and a public open house was held. Free three-pound bags of flour and other souvenirs were to be distributed to the public. The purpose of the new mill, with its 250,000 bushels storage capacity, and 1,250 barrels of flour per day, at 194 pounds per barrel, was to serve its growing coast-to-coast market. The old mill at 3000 South State Street, with its 300 barrels per day and 100,000 bushels capacity would remain open. Construction of the new mill had started in April 1923. (Salt Lake Telegram, May 11, 1924; Salt Lake Tribune, May 11, 1924, with photo)
"The new Husler's Flour Mill has accomplished the ultimate in modern milling facilities. It is an eight story plant covering three quarters of a city block and with the capacity of a daily output of 1600 barrels as compared with the limited production of about 100 barrels of flour in the first mill constructed. There are ten large elevators built in the mill where the separate grades of wheat are stored, each holding from 25,000 to 80.000 bushels of wheat and in addition there are 18 smaller ones which are used in storing the finer grades. This company procures practically all of its wheat from Utah and Idaho and maintains an extensive line of elevators throughout the Inter-mountain territory." (Goodwin's Weekly, February 23, 1929)
May 6, 1926
The following comes from the May 6, 1926 issue of the Salt Lake Telegram newspaper.
The Colorado company owns 200 grain elevators and 34 flour mills in four Western states, and controls the Sunset Milling and Grain company of Los Angeles. The mills and elevators are located in Kansas, Utah and Idaho. The company is headed by J. K. Mullen, Denver philanthropist.
The Colorado Milling and Elevator company controls the new Husler flour mills, the Interocean elevators and the Pacific seedhouse of Salt Lake. The company controls approximately 30 elevators in northern Utah and Idaho, many of which are controlled from Salt Lake, with others controlled from an Idaho Falls branch of the company.
The 1926 Sanborn Fire Insurance map (Volume 2, Sheet 228) shows that the Huslers flour mill was located on the north bank of Mill Creek, with a railroad spur located on the south bank of the creek. At that point, the creek was completely covered by the mill building. The mill operated only during the daytime, and produced 300 barrels of ground wheat and rye every day.
The 1926 Sanborn Fire Insurance map (Volume 2, Sheet 146) shows that the Huslers Flour Mills was located at 425 and 433 West 5th South, on the southwest corner of the intersection of 4th (500) West and 5th South. The same map also shows that the Purity Biscuit company was located directly west at 477 West 5th South, on the southeast corner of the intersection of 5th South and 4th (500) West. Both companies were served by spur tracks of both Oregon Short Line from the east, and D&RG from the west.
(Read more about Purity Biscuit company)
August 9, 1929
J. K. Mullen, millionaire capitalist, died at his home in Denver at age 83. He was the principal owner of the Colorado Milling and Elevator company, which controlled the Husler Flour Mills, as well as the Interocean Elevator company, both of Salt Lake City.
(Salt Lake Telegram, August 9, 1929)
1932
The original Husler Flour Mills plant on State Street was destroyed by fire in 1932. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 29, 1951)
(A search of available online newspapers, on two separate web sites, did not find any coverage in the 1931-1933 period of the above fire.)
February 27, 1941
In an ad announcing the availability of "Enriched Flour", with added vitamins, the Colorado Milling and Elevator company showed the Husler Flour Mills as its major division in Salt Lake City, plus eight flour mills and elevators in Idaho: Boise, Burley, Caldwell, Midland, Pocatello, St. Anthony, Twin Falls, and Weiser. (Salt Lake Telegram, February 27, 1941)
October 18, 1945
The Colorado Milling & Elevator Company adopted a new trade name, Salt Lake Flour Mills, with the Salt Lake City mill to be known as the Salt Lake Flour Mills Division of Colorado Milling & Elevator Company. (Deseret News, October 18, 1945, "Legal Notices")
(The result of this new trade name was that the signs on the Husler Flour Mill in Salt Lake City was changed to Salt Lake Flour Mills.)
The 1951 D&RGW Traffic Circular shows the same location at 3rd West and 5th South as "Salt Lake Flour Mills."
July 29, 1951
Six additional reinforced concrete silos "tanks" were added to the already existing 11 silos at the Salt Lake Flour Mills, increasing the capacity to 208,000 bushels of wheat. The additional storage was to be used to increase the milling capacity 3200 hundred-weight, or 1600 barrels of flour per day. (Salt Lake Tribune, July 29, 1951)
May 22, 1966
Colorado Milling & Elevator purchased controlling interest of Great Western Sugar Co. The new Chairman of Colorado Milling, William M. White Jr. (of the investor group Allen & Company), controlled both Colorado Milling (since 1965) and Great Western Sugar through stock ownership. Colorado Milling began buying Great Western stock in early April 1966. (Billings Gazette, May 22, 1966)
September 16, 1967
The merger of Great Western Sugar and Colorado Milling & Elevator was approved by both companies' shareholders on Wednesday April 5, 1967. The new merged company was to be called Great Western United Corporation. The merger was first proposed in late September 1966, and made final in mid September 1967. (Billings Gazette, April 11, 1967; Boston Globe, September 16, 1967)
August 26, 1969
"Peavey will buy Colorado Milling --
The Peavey Co., Minneapolis flour distributing firm, has reached an agreement to buy, for an undisclosed amount of cash, the Colorado Milling & Elevator Co. from Great Western United Corp., Denver." "The 80-year-old flour milling company had been taken over in 1965 by William M. White, Great Western board chairman, and used as a springboard to formation of the conglomerate which now owns Great Western Sugar. Shakey's Pizza chain, Great Western Foods and other operations." The sale was finalized in November 1969. (Minneapolis Star, August 26, 1969; May 11, 1970)
(The result of the sale of Colorado Milling & Elevator, former Husler downtown flour mill, to Peavey Company in 1969 was that the signs on the Salt Lake Flour Mills were changed to Peavey Company.)
Cereal Food Processors
(425 West 500 South, Salt Lake City)
(The original Hustler mill at this location was completed in 1924; sold to Peavey in 1969; sold to Cereal Food Processors in 1984)
Cereal Food Processors came to Salt Lake City when Peavey Company was forced to sell four of its mills in April 1984, prior to its merger with ConAgra. The sale was to prevent ConAgra having a monopoly in flour milling. The four Peavey flour mills were in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Billings and Great Falls, Montana.
Prior to the merger, Peavey manufactured and sold bakery flour from eight mills located throughout the United States. The merger agreement was signed on April 18, 1982, and the merger transaction was consummated on July 20, 1982. At the time of the merger, the Federal Trade Commission became involved due to a perceived monopoly. At the time of the merger Peavey held 24 percent of the market for hard wheat bakery flour in the western United States, and ConAgra held 8 percent.
In May 2014, Cereal Food Processors was acquired by other companies, which were merged to form Grain Craft, Inc. Cereal Food Processors had mills in Salt Lake City and Ogden.
The following comes from the May 6, 2014 issue of FoodBusinessNews.com.
The acquisition of Cereal Food Processors, Inc. by Milner Milling Co. and Pendleton Flour Mills was set to be completed on May 8, 2014. Plans for the acquisition were first announced March 10. The transaction will nearly triple the combined size of Milner/PFM. Once the transaction is completed, the new company will have daily milling capacity of 164,000 hundred-weight of flour and will lag only ADM Milling Co. (281,100 hundred-weight) and Ardent Mills (expected to have capacity of 513,600 hundred-weight).
Based in Chattanooga, Milner Milling was a privately owned milling business with flour mill locations in Barnesville, Georgia (actually situated between Barnesville and Milner, Georgia); Rome, Georgia; and Birmingham, Alabama. Milner also is a 50 percent managing owner of Pendleton Flour Mills L.L.C., which owns flour mills in Pendleton, Oregon; Honolulu; and Blackfoot, Idaho. Kerr-Pacific Corp., Portland, is the other partner in Pendleton. Cereal Food Processors mills are located in Los Angeles, Kansas City, Wichita and McPherson, Kansas; Great Falls and Billings, Montana; Portland, Oregon; and Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah.
The flour milling plant of Cereal Food Processors was closed in early 2018. By that time, the facility was owned by Grain Craft, which announced in December 2017 that it would close its Salt Lake City plant due to excess capacity. Grain Craft already had a larger facility in Ogden, just 35 miles north of Salt Lake City. (BakingBusines.com, December 6, 2017)
(The Ogden facility had more flexibility in the milled products it could produce.)
During the years it was receiving and shipping grain and finished grain products by rail car, Grain Craft's Salt Lake City milling plant was switched by spurs that entered the the plant from the east, connected to Union Pacific's Provo Subdivision along 400 West. With the closure of the 400 West line in 1999, a new spur was built that extended eastward from the former D&RGW 4th South yard, across 500 West and entering the milling plant from the west side.
Sperry Flour Company
(Salt Lake City)
The Sperry Flour company's mill in Salt Lake City was at 381 West on Eighth South. The Sanborn fire insurance map for 1911 shows the building as Lemp's Beer Depot, but the 1926 Sanborn map shows it as the Sperry Flour Company.
July 15, 1918
"It is reported that the Sperry Flour Milling Company of San Francisco has purchased a tract of land in North Salt Lake and that the firm contemplates the erection of a big elevator and flour milling establishment in this city." (Salt Lake Mining Review, July 15, 1918)
July 17, 1920
"One of the largest deals of several weeks was consummated Wednesday with the purchase of a commodious warehouse at Eighth South and Third West streets by the Sperry Flour company for a consideration of $44,000. The property was formerly owned by David Robbins." (Deseret News, July 17, 1920)
Ogden
Sperry Flour Company
220 West 30th Street, Ogden
(Built in 1928)
The Sperry Flour Company's plant in Ogden was completed in about 1928. The 28 storage "tanks" held 500,000 bushels of grain, and were 17 feet in diameter and 88 feet high. The storage tanks were completed in 11 days by C. F. Dinsmore & Company, of Ogden, one of Utah's most prominent general contractors. (Ogden Standard Examiner, January 27, 1929 and August 31, 1930)
April 10, 1919
"The other Ogden mill is to be built by the Sperry company and will be in a unit of not less than 2,000 barrels capacity. Work on the construction of a 500,000-bushel elevator by this company is now under way, the excavation work being completed and the pouring of concrete about to begin. The house will be in form of a 100,000-bushel head house, with supplementary tanks of 400,000 bushel capacity. Work on mill construction will probably be begun in the late summer, with a view to completion of the plant by the 1920 wheat harvest." (Ogden Standard Examiner, April 10, 1919)
October 18, 1919
"Ogden. Oct. 18. -- Active operations were begun by the Sperry Flour company with the unloading of a car of wheat yesterday. The Sperry Flour company is one of the two concerns which recently constructed a large elevator and flour milling plant to receive and mill the wheat from the northwestern states which formerly was shipped to Chicago." (Salt Lake Herald, October 19, 1919)
January 8, 1920
The first unit of the flour mill of the Sperry Flour company in Ogden was completed and placed into operation. (Ogden Standard Examiner, January 8, 1920, announcing a public open house)
(A newspaper ad for Sperry's Encore Pancake Flour showed that the company had 10 mills and 44 distribution points along the Pacific coast.)
December 10, 1920
"Ogden, Dec. 10. -- The Sperry Flour company will begin Monday morning to run wheat from its elevators to the mill and Wednesday the mill will begin the manufacture of flour. The mill will be in full operation for the open house, which will be held during the days of the Ogden livestock show, January 6, 7 and 8." (Salt Lake Tribune, December 11, 1920)
January 5, 1921
"Ogden Milling Plant Opened. Mill of Sperry Flour Company Is Formally Dedicated and Inspected." (Salt Lake Tribune, January 6, 1921)
The Sperry mill was one of Sperry Flour Co.'s many mills in the West, which included facilities in California, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Sperry got its start in 1852, when Austin Sperry and George Lyon erected their first mill in Stockton, California. By 1936, the Sperry company had five mills, with a total daily capacity of 13,800 barrels of flour and 1,850 tons of feed grains. The storage silos at Ogden were part of a network that included five mills and 88 associated county elevators throughout the West, with a combined capacity of 13 million bushels. In 1928, Sperry was included in gigantic merger of milling, cereal, and elevator companies that formed General Mills, Inc. Sperry remained separate until General Mills consolidated its operations. Prior to the consolidation, the General Mills organization was mainly a centralized marketing and research operation, but as the market that it served continued to change and grow, a more centralized control of the actual milling operations required that the General Mills name be applied to the milling operations themselves. (Arthur Pound, "Up From The Grass Roots, Industrial America, Its Way Of Work And Thought," Chapter VII, , Boston, Little, Brown & Company, 1936, pp. 153-155)
Sperry remained separate until General Mills consolidated its operations. Prior to that, the General Mills organization was mainly a centralized marketing and research operation, but as the market that it served continued to change and grow, a more centralized control of milling required that the General Mills name be applied to all of its milling operations. General Mills closed its Ogden mill in early 1967.
The plant fell silent and the silos remained empty until July 1967 when Colorado Milling and Elevator Co. took them over.
The plant was later sold to The Peavey Co., which merged with agricultural giant ConAgra in July 1982. By a consent agreement between the two companies and the Federal Trade Commission, the merger was allowed with the stipulation that ConAgra would divest itself of four western milling operations.
The Ogden plant was chosen as one of the four, and it was sold in April 1984 to ConAgra's competitor, Cereal Food Processors, as a result of the merger of ConArga and Peavey to prevent a monopoly by ConAgra.
The Cereal Food Processors Ogden location continues to mill both hard flour and soft flour, with a daily capacity of 13,000 hundred-weight (100-pound bags, or cwt). Its wheat comes by rail from the Midwest. The mill uses soft wheat and hard wheat, received in an average of 10 cars per day. Some soft wheat comes by truck from Idaho.
Grain Craft
May 8, 2014
Milner Milling Co. and Pendleton Flour Mills purchased Cereal Food Processors, Inc., with the acquisition taking effect on May 8, 2014. The sale was first announced on March 10, 2014, and would triple the size of the already combined Milner Milling and Pendleton Flour Mills. A new name for the combined companies was to be announced soon. Milner had plants in Georgia and Alabama, and owned 50 percent of Pendleton Flour Mills which had plants in Pendleton, Oregon, and Honolulu, and Blackfoot, Idaho, along with Kerr-Pacific Corp. in Portland, Oregon. Cereal Food Processors had plants in Los Angeles, Kansas City, Wichita and McPherson, Kansas, Great Falls and Billings, Montana, Portland, Oregon, and Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah. (FoodBusinessNews.net, May 8, 2014)
May 13, 2014
Grain Craft has been selected as the name for the business
created by the combination of Cereal Food Processors, Inc., Milner Milling Co. and
Pendleton Flour Mills. The new company was to be headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and would operate 16 mills in 11 states with a
daily milling capacity of 166,260 cwts of flour [8,313 tons]. (FoodBusinessNews.net, May 13, 2014)
2016
Grain Craft completed a project at Ogden with added loadout bins, improved elevator automation and increased wheat truck unloading capacity.
2018
Following the closing of the Salt Lake City mill in 2018, Grain Craft remained as the third largest flour milling company in the United States. Other than Ogden, the company's milling locations west of the Rockies include: Los Angeles; Blackfoot, Idaho; Billings and Great Falls, Montana; and Pendleton and Portland, Oregon.
Globe Mill
April 10, 1919
"The Globe company began construction work last year on a 500,000-bushel elevator at Ogden, completing tanks with a capacity of 400,000 bushels at that time. Construction work is now under way on a 100,000-bushel head house to complete the elevator. Immediately following completion of this storage unit, the company's plans contemplate beginning construction of a 2,500-barrel mill on adjoining property. This mill was planned prior to the war but the project was held in abeyance pending more settled conditions." (Ogden Standard Examiner, April 10, 1919)
The Globe mill in West Ogden was built in 1920 by the Globe Milling Co. It was sold to the Pillsbury Co. in 1941, along with Globe mills in Colton, San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, all in California. Also at Los Angeles were Globe's feed mill, feed lot, cottonseed operation, and macaroni factory. The original Globe mill in Ogden had a flour-making capacity of 4,000 cwt. per day. A typical 40-ton-capacity railroad boxcar could hold 800 cwt. By 1950, Pillsbury had increased the plant's output to 5,000 cwt., and, by the mid-1960s, to 7,500 cwt. In 1973, the plant could produce 10,500 cwt. of hard flour (for macaroni) and 9,000 cwt. of soft flour (for breads and cakes). Much of Pillsbury's Ogden "grind" went to furnish the California flour market, competing with mills in Washington, Oregon, and Kansas City.
During 1950, Pillsbury was shipping 3,000 carloads of flour, feeds and grain from its mills and storage facility in West Ogden. Pillsbury acquired the former Globe mill in 1940. The Globe mill had started to build its West Ogden mill in the spring of 1918, but due to wartime restrictions and shortages, the mill wasn't completed until July 1920. The mill was expanded with an additional 20 storage tanks in 1927, along with a two-story concrete warehouse with 35,000 square feet of storage space. Two more warehouses (15,000 square feet) were added in 1947, and in 1949 another 8,000 square feet of warehouse was added. (Ogden Standard Examiner, February 19, 1950)
The cost of transportation was, and still is, a great factor in keeping Ogden mills open, furnishing flour and grains for sale in the West. In 1971, the Santa Fe railroad made a favorable change in its rate to move finished flour from Kansas to California, which also shut out Ogden's flour completely from the Phoenix, Arizona, flour market. Pillsbury's Ogden mill furnished all of the flour for the company's "Gold Medal" flour market west of the Rockies, keeping supermarkets supplied from a wholesale warehouse in Clearfield, Utah. In addition to producing flour of all types and grades, Pillsbury's Ogden mill and its adjacent 2.5-million-bushel elevator served as a storage facility for wheat and barley that Pillsbury bought from local growers and sold all over the West. (Telephone interview with current (1996) Cargill manager; other portions from William W. Terry Collection, Weber State University.)
Pillsbury sold the former Globe mill to Cargill, Inc. in 1991. Cargill made some changes in capability, converting it to a "swing mill" that can produce either 10,000 cwt. of soft flour, or an equal quantity of hard flour. Although Cargill has stopped producing flour made from hard Durham wheat (used for macaroni and pasta), it still produces large quantities of heavy bran. Grain for Cargill arrives either by rail or by truck, and finished flour and grain products leave by bulk rail car, by bulk truck, or in bags and sacks protected inside trucks and boxcars.
Farmers Grain Cooperative
West Ogden; Built in 1941; Additions in 1947 and 1949.
July 1, 1938
The Farmers Grain Cooperative, Inc. was incorporated on July 1, 1938, as the successor to the Intermountain Grain Cooperative, Inc., to represent 2000 wheat growers in southeastern Idaho and northern Utah. (Ogden Standard Examiner, September 21, 1941)
The Cooperative was made up of a wide range of farmers in southeastern Idaho and northern Utah, beginning with 2000 farmers and five local cooperatives. These five cooperatives were: Franklin County Grain Growers, Inc. (the Idaho side of Cache Valley); Gem Valley Grain Growers, Inc. (between Lava Hot Springs and Soda Springs, Idaho); Power County Grain Growers, Inc. (west and southwest of Pocatello, Idaho); Hansel Valley Grain Growers, Inc. (southeast of Snowville, Utah); and the Northern Utah Farmers Cooperative. The farmers themselves were actually shareholders in five smaller cooperatives that stored their grain crop locally. By 1950 the number of members had grown to 4000 farmers, selling their grain through 13 local cooperatives, and more than 6300 farmers by the early 1990s.
The Ogden facility of the Farmers Grain Cooperative served as a storage facility for these smaller cooperatives, with the benefit of being located in Ogden near the large railroad yards, and several flour mills. These Ogden flour mills, and mills in other Utah cities, were the major market for the grain stored by the Farmers Grain Cooperative. The additional benefit was that the railroad facilities in Ogden put the grain growers within reasonable shipping distance of large West Coast flour mills, and large flour mills in Denver and points eastward.
The grain arrived at Ogden by trucks from local farms, or by rail from points in northern Utah and southeastern Idaho, from as many as 32 local elevators that were part of the 13 local cooperatives. The grain was shipped out to the markets by rail, with the Ogden facility serving as storage for grain pending favorable prices. For many of its years, with its capacity of 3,100,000 bushels, the Farmers Grain Cooperative facility in West Ogden was known as the largest grain storage site in the Intermountain West.
May 20 1941
The following description comes from the May 20, 1941 issue of the Ogden Standard Examiner newspaper.
Ogden Concern Begins Elevator Construction -- Farmers Cooperative to Spend $150,000 In West Ogden -- Excavation has been begun and construction will be started within the next two weeks on a $150,000 grain storage elevator in West Ogden, it was reported by Elwood Williams, general manager of the Farmers Grain Cooperative, Inc.
Site of the plant, which is to be of 500,000-bushel capacity, is on the west of the paved highway, just south of the California Packing Co. plant.
To be entirely of concrete with slip-forms and continuous pouring, structure will be used to store wheat for local mills and to handle the overflow from the 22 elevators in northern Utah and southern Idaho now operated by the cooperative organization. The other elevators are capable of storing 1,800,000 bushels.
The contract for the construction has been awarded to Chalmers & Borton of Hutchinson, Kansas and calls for completion and occupancy by August 15.
Fourteen Tanks -- Fourteen large storage tanks 20 feet in diameter, and 110 feet high, will be joined by 35 interstice tanks, with a headhouse 185 feet high. This will enable the bins.
The site of the plant is a 16-acre tract served by 1690 feet of Union Pacific spur track. Six regular employees, already serving the company, will man the plant, and from 18 to 20 seasonal workers will be employed during the busy weeks.
July 20, 1941
The following comes from the July 20, 1941 issue of the Ogden Standard Examiner.
Rapid Progress Made On New Grain Storage Plant -- The 14 big tanks and the head-house are now up 102 feet. The tanks are to be 110 feet high, and the headhouse 185 feet high.
Hundred Busy -- Of the 4,500 cubic yards of concrete estimated to be required for the structure, 3,000 yards have been poured in the 13 days since July 7. About 100 men are working on the job.
When completed there will be 10 fan bins and five interstice bins among the 14 main tanks, while the headhouse will have 12 bins running below and above the cleaning machinery. In the headhouse will be five floors, a cleaner floor, scale floor, garner floor, machinery floor and first floor.
The elevator will have leg machinery capable of handling 8,000 bushels of grain per hour. There will be a 30-ton scale with a 40- foot platform for handling trucks.
September 21, 1941
The new Farmers Grain Cooperative silos were filled to capacity for the first time during mid September 1941. (Ogden Standard Examiner, September 21, 1941, "this past week")
February 8, 1942
The following comes from the February 8, 1942 issue of the Ogden Standard Examiner.
First unit of the big new elevator in West Ogden was completed last Sept 2. It has 49 storage tanks with a capacity of 550,000 bushels. It was filled to capacity 10 days after completion. Immediately thereafter construction on the second unit of 550,000 capacity was begun. This, too, has now been completed.
Fireproof Structure -- This concrete fireproof grain elevator is equipped with a 80-ton platform truck scale with a separate receiving leg so that truck operations do not interfere with rail shipments or loadings.
On the rail side of the elevator it is equipped to accommodate 25 loaded cars on its spur track, with space for a like number of empties. It is expected that from 8,000,000 to 4,000,000 bushels of wheat will be handled through this Ogden sub-terminal each year, which would constitute 2000 to 3000 cars in and a like number loaded out.
Shipments of grain from the Ogden elevator will serve markets from San Francisco south on the west coast, as well as eastern markets such as Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis, Chicago and intermediate points.
Farmers Grain Cooperative was incorporated and started business July 1, 1938. It was organized as a marketing cooperative to handle the exclusive marketing of the wheat originated and delivered by its 2000 wheat producers of southern Idaho and northern Utah.
June 2, 1946
"In West Ogden, excavation is under way for foundation work on a new grain elevator for the Farmer's Grain Cooperative that will exceed $500,000 in cost. Recently approved by the government, project plans call for a duplication of existing facilities, which will increase grain storage by 1,000,000 bushels, along with construction of a car dumper able to dump box car loads of grain in one operation." (Salt Lake Tribune, June 2, 1946)
July 17, 1946
"The million-bushel addition to the Ogden terminal elevator of the Farmers' Grain Cooperative probably will not be finished until the end of the current grain harvest and thus likely will not be completely filled this year. Its completion will boost capacity of the Ogden elevator to 2,000,000 bushels and capacity of all Farmers Grain Cooperative elevators to 4,500,000." (Ogden Standard Examiner, July 17, 1946)
September 8, 1946
Completion of the 1-million bushel addition to the Farmers Grain Cooperative terminal in West Ogden was being delayed by shortages of structural steel and machinery. Overall construction was about 75 percent complete, with the storage tanks being within a day or two. The new head house was not yet started. (Salt Lake Tribune, September 8, 1946, with photos)
June 17, 1947
A grand opening and public open house was held at the newly completed Farmers Grain Cooperative 2-million bushel grain terminal in West Ogden. The new car dumper was to be demonstrated, showing that it could dump a rail car every six minutes, and a full train in an eight-hour shift.
(Ogden Standard Examiner, June 15, 1947)
The previous method of unloading the rail cars by power shovel took 30 minutes per ton. (Ogden Standard Examiner, September 8, 1946)
September 11, 1947
"A third 1,000,000 bushel unit, running east from the head house at right angles, making a 'T' elevator formation, is being considered by the Farmers Grain Cooperative in West Ogden, according to Elwood Williams, general manager. The construction of the third unit, to be 340 feet long and 42 feet wide, will be started this year and completed 1948, depending upon availability of materials, such as steel, cement, lumber and other items. The plant is only in the planning stage and we are just commencing inquiries, said Mr. Williams. It will cost approximately half a million dollars, about the same as our second unit which was started in 1945 and completed in 1946. Our first unit, which cost about half that much, was erected in 1941. The new unit will have 72 big tanks plus the interstites — the well space inside each four tanks. Farmers Grain Cooperative has plenty of room to expand as we have 20 acres of ground in West Ogden. The 'T' elevator formation helps save on belt conveyors and adds other extra economy." (Ogden Standard Examiner, September 11, 1947, with aerial photo)
December 29, 1947
Weber County approved a permit for Farmers Grain Cooperative to build its third set of silos, forming a 'T' with the other two buildings. (Ogden Standard Examiner, December 29, 1947, "today")
March 15, 1948
The following comes from the March 15, 1948 issue of the Ogden Standard Examiner (includes photo).
Foundation Being Placed For Extensive Structure -- Ogden will boast the largest terminal grain elevators in the western U. S. when the unit now under construction at the Farmers Grain Cooperative, Inc., plant is completed.
The new storage tanks, of contemplated 1,100,000 bushel capacity, will bring the total storage space to 3,100,000 bushels. In addition, the establishment includes the latest developments in loading and unloading machinery.
The latest unit is being constructed at right angles to the present tanks and will be built so as to utilize the headhouse on the most-recently constructed unit.
Digging Tunnels -- Construction progress includes digging of tunnels, pouring of a two-foot thick foundation slab and setting of slip forms. In about two weeks, pouring of concrete will begin and continue without interruption until the tanks have attained their scheduled 110-foot height.
If the weather is favorable, the pouring will require less than two weeks. The tanks will be 269 feet wide and 507 feet long.
Manager Williams said the present car-unloading machinery will be adequate to serve the third unit, but a new truck dump will be added to service semi-trailer transports. No new trackage will be added. It is expected the new unit will be placed in operation by July 1.
(The actual completion of the 'T' addition was not covered in available online newspapers, being overshadowed by the startup of the Cooperative's dehydrated alfalfa pellet plant in the June to September 1949 period.)
February 24, 1957
The following description of the machinery and the markets come from the February 24, 1957 issue of the Ogden Standard Examiner.
The elevators are equipped with the most modern type of machinery. A 2,000-bushel carload of wheat can be emptied, weighed and stored away in five minutes. With the push-button operation, a whole trainload of grain can be stored away in a single day.
This was made possible in 1944 with installation of automatic Link-Belt car dumping equipment. Before that power shovels were used and it took an hour to unload two cars.
Because Ogden is a railroad center, the wheat can be shipped out of the area in any direction with a minimum of delay and few complications.
July 29, 1984
The following description of the Cooperative's markets comes from the July 29, 1984 issue of the Ogden Standard Examiner.
Harvesting combines are starting to churn through grain fields. And that means the busy season is starting for the 65 employees of Farmers Grain Cooperative in west Ogden. "It's too early to tell how good it will be for grain farmers." says W. G. "Jerry" Cross, executive vice president and general manager for the co-op that serves 7,600 farmers, mostly in northern Utah and southern Idaho.
Last year the cooperative's 4.7-million-bushel elevators were filled and refilled 3-1/2 times. About half that volume was wheat, the balance feed grains. The cooperative's sales in 1983 totaled $90 million, making it one of the highest grossing businesses in Utah.
In a typical year, says Cross, the firm handles about 25 million bushels. Cross estimates 80 percent of the grains come from southern Idaho and northern Utah, where the cooperative has 19 smaller grain elevators for collecting wheat, barley, oats and some corn.
The rest of the grain comes from Montana, South Dakota. Wyoming and Minnesota. How come Minnesota grain ends up in Utah? Cross explains that truckers, planning to pick up salt in Utah, will bring in a load of Minnesota or Dakota grain to avoid pulling an empty trailer.
That fits into the natural economic flow of grain, which is westward to California, the Pacific Northwest and countries along the Pacific Rim.
About 65 percent of the cooperative's grain sales are to foreign markets in the Pacific — Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and other countries bordering the ocean. Much of the exported grain is shipped from Ogden to the Northwest Export Terminal in Portland, Ore., in which Farmers Cooperative has an ownership interest. The co-op also exports from Long Beach. Calif.
June 23, 2003
"Omaha -- The Scoular Company announced today that it has assumed operation of the grain facilities owned by Farmers Grain Cooperative of Idaho. The principal facility is located in Ogden, Utah, with additional facilities in American Falls, Michaud, Malad, Grace and Bancroft, Idaho. These facilities give Scoular 6,950,000 bushels of grain storage space, in addition to the 360,000 bushels of space at the Ogden facility already owned by Scoular. Both of the Ogden facilities are served by the Utah Central Railway. The Bancroft, Michaud, and American Falls facilities are served by the Union Pacific Railroad." (The Scoular Company press release, dated June 23, 2003)
2023
Scoular Company sold its former Farmers Grain Cooperative grain terminal in West Ogden. In August 2023 the Scoular offices moved from the Farmers Grain Cooperative site, to a new location in Pleasant View, north of Ogden.
Scoular Grain of Utah, in addition to the former Farmers Grain Cooperative in West Ogden, also had a smaller grain storage facility in the former D&RGW rail yard in Ogden. During the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, Scoular leased empty warehouses in the Clearfield Freeport Center to store surplus grain. Scoular had purchased the site in the former D&RGW yard from the Simplot AgriSource company in 2002, a year before they bought the former Farmers Grain Cooperative site. Simplot AgriSource had purchased the Ogden facility in July 1997 from McNabb Grain, Inc.
(Images from Google Street View dated July 2023, show the Farmers Grain Cooperative silos intact and a Patriot Rail/Utah Central locomotive switching grain cars at the facility. The "modern" office building completed in 1947 was still in its original location.)
February 2024
Work began to demolish the former Farmers Grain Cooperative facility in West Ogden, to make way for a transload facility for Patriot Rails' Utah Central Railway.
November 2, 2024
The two head houses were demolished, and were the last of the Farmers Coop buildings to be demolished. The two head houses were both 185 feet high. The site will continue to be cleared of all remaining debris, which will take several months before it will be ready for any future use.
Layton
"1890 - Layton Roller Mills, 18 South Main Street. In 1890, a mill was built by Ephraim P. Ellison, Henry Gibson and others on the west side of Main Street, south of Farmers Union. The mill was often referred to as Layton Milling, Layton Flour Mill, or Layton Roller Mills. In 1895, one to three carloads of flour were shipped from the mill each day. In 1903, every 24 hours the mill produced enough flour to fill 440 sacks (more than any other mill in Utah). In 1921 , the company was consolidated with Kaysville Milling Co., organized in 1906, to form the Kaysville-Layton Milling Company, with Henry H. Blood as president and E. P. Ellison as vice-president. This new company had a capacity of 60,000 barrels of flour per year and supplied markets in Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia. Rasmussen Grain Co. purchased the mill in the 1940's. The wood portion burned down in 1951, and a new service station was built where the mill stood. General Mills operates a grain loading station using the old cement bins." (Layton, Utah: Historic Viewpoints; Kaysville-Layton Historical Society, 1985, page 291)
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