Banner 10-14-2021

The Hastings Banner — Thursday, October 14, 2021 — Page 7

Roller mill was

solidly built, funded

by stockholders

Kathy Maurer
Copy Editor
The Aug. 25 Banner reprinted the recollec-
tions of co-editor Marshall L. Cook of two
former mills on Fall Creek in Hastings and
memories one of the owners, in particular.
Cook, born in 1858, moved from
Prairieville Township to Hastings as a young
boy. He reached 96 years of age before his
death in March 1955. Though retired, he con-
tinued to write in his 70s and 80s, telling
readers about the people, incidents, business-
es, transactions and other recollections of
earlier days in the city and county.
Below, he tells a little bit about the old
roller mill, and how it came to be, in relation
to the Fall Creek mills.
The three-story roller mill stood at the
southeast corner of what is now Apple Street
and Michigan Avenue and is Parking Lot 3,
owned by the City of Hastings.
Cook didn’t divulge a lot of history on the
early roller mill. Perhaps he wasn’t as famil-
iar with it in his younger years. Instead, he
wrote about the building itself, as layers were
peeled back and its structure was revealed in
early June 1938. Then 80 years old, Cook
marveled at the materials used and the skill of
the carpenters and masons who built the old
mill in the late 1880s.
His article, in the June 9, 1938, Banner,
had the multiple headlines typical of the day:

Old roller mill to be remodeled

SOLID BRICK WALLS 17 INCHES THICK

Old-fashioned square nails free from rust

and timber in fine condition

M.L. Cook

The old Hastings Roller Mill, which was
part of the assets of the old Hastings National
Bank, was purchased from the receiver last
week by the Hastings Construction Company

• Floyd Craig, Lynn Newton and Floyd
  Storer representing that company in the deal.
  The purchasing company, who are engaged
  in construction and repair work, bought this
  building in order to have a convenient shop
  for their work. They are remodeling it for
  their uses and to provide good display,
  machine and work rooms, equipped with
  needed machinery.
  In revamping the building, some interest-
  ing discoveries were made. The solid brick
  walls were found to be 17 inches thick. The
  joists are 3 inches by 12 inches, making a
  structure that would stand up under almost
  any weight and withstand almost any kind of
  a jar. The beams in the building are solid
  12-by-12 inches and 12-by-14-inch timber
  and of a quality of lumber that would be dif-
  ficult to duplicate at the present time.
  Although this building is over 50 years old,
  the lumber used in it is just like new, and
  straight as a ruler. The old-fashioned square
  nails were found to be almost as free of rust
  as if they had just been driven. The bins for
  flour and grain in the mill were made of
  2-by-4-inch boards, laid flat and fastened
  together.
  The carpenter and brick work on the build-
  ing, done half a century ago, evidences the
  fact that there were skilled workmen in
  Hastings at the time. All the joists were care-
  fully fitted, and the whole building is so well
  constructed, it would stand another 50 years
  and still be in good shape [it is believed to
  have been razed in the 1970s].
  Arrangements have been made whereby
  Aris Jarman would occupy the rear of the first
  floor with his tin shop. There is a full base-
  ment under the mill which would make a fine
  place for storage.
  The Hastings Construction Company feels
  very well pleased with the purchase and will
  have quarters well adapted for their work.
  In its early history, Hastings had two grist-
  mills, both on Fall Creek and operated by
  water power. The “upper mill,” as it was
  called, had a water storage dam north of John
  Ketchum’s home, with a race to carry the
  water to a smaller dam, located at the corner of
  Hanover and Grand streets. The mill was west
  of the dam, and there was a considerable fall
  at that point. The water was conveyed to a big
  water wheel that furnished power for the mill.
  Flour was ground between large mill-

stones. The lower mill was much smaller and

was located on Boltwood Street, between

Court and State streets, a little west of the

north end of the new county garage [now the

city garage].

There was a dam on Court Street, which

was then not open from Michigan Avenue to

Boltwood. [Court Street still is not open

between Boltwood – previously known as

Water Street – and Michigan Avenue; it is

occupied by Ace Hardware and prior to that

Family Fare and Felpausch grocery store

and headquarters. Fall Creek runs beneath

the large parking lot from Center Street to

the river.]

The water in the dam extended from

Court Street to Bond Street and was the

winter skating pond for the kids of that day.

Water from that dam operated the lower, or

red, mill.

As the country was cleared up, Fall Creek

grew smaller and smaller in the summer and

fall, and the upper mill ceased to depend on

water, and installed steam power.

Some can remember the big brick chim-

ney that stood on the site long after the

upper mill was destroyed by fire. Later,

steam power was installed in the lower, or

red, mill.

The lower mill continued to operate after

the other was destroyed but with a decreas-

ing output. When flour began to be made

with rolls, and not ground between mill-

stones, the old way of making that product

became obsolete, so that for many years, the

old red mill did little else than feed grinding.

Businessmen of Hastings felt the slacken-

ing farmer trade when the superior roll-

er-mill white flour displaced the coarser and

darker product ground with millstones.

Hastings had no factories then, except saw

and planing mills. It was felt that the town

ought to have a roller grist mill. Accordingly,

it was agreed that the tradesmen of the town

would buy stock in such a venture, and the

Hastings Roller Mill Company was orga-

nized as a stock company.

Most of the stockholders put in their

money because they wanted to help the

town get an up-to-date roller mill. A few

thought the venture could be made profit-

able, so they bought the stock which the

others were glad to sell, and seriously try to

make it a profitable business.

But it never could stand up against the

stiff competition of much larger mills, with

improved machinery, and usually operated

by water power, against which a small

stream mill had small chances of success.

So, after many vicissitudes, the Hastings

Roller Mill had to quit and was taken over

by the old National Bank here because it

could not pay its debt.

Sources: Hastings Banner, Hastings Public

Library, Library of Congress/loc.gov, City of

Hastings, migenweb.org/barry, Google

Books.

This 1891 map created by the Sanborn Map Company, shows the location of the

roller mill (upper right), as well as the still-existing waterworks building, courthouse

and train depot, now a law office. The planing mill, which M.L. Cook mentioned (upper

left), is now occupied by Tyden Park. (Library of Congress image)

This 1911 post card shows the old iron bridge on Michigan Avenue, facing south. The taller building to the right is the former

roller mill, with Pauline McOmber Schultz’s corset factory in the foreground. By 1916, that building housed Hastings Manufacturing

Company. The building on the left was the lime storage house in 1909. It house agriculture implements on the 1900 map and was

a planing mill and carpenter shop in 1916. (Fred Jacobs’ collection)

This map from 1900 was printed when Michigan Avenue, south of the Thornapple River, was called Creek Street. The map also shows the iron bridge over the river and a

tail race, flume, turbine wheel and cobble stone dam on the north side of the river, west of the bridge. A tannery was in the basement of the building on the north side of the

river and a cider mill occupied the first floor and would have used the water power, as well. (Library of Congress image)

The Sanborn Map Company created detailed drawings of communities, showing fire

risk among various types of businesses. This 1916 map includes details at the

Hastings Milling Company, such as its security, heat sources, dust collection, water

availability and more for each of the four floors of the building that stood on the south-

east corner of Michigan Avenue and Apple Street. (Library of Congress image)