Smoky Valley Roller Mills, now known as the Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum, is an historic mill and museum on Mill Street in
Lindsborg, Kansas.
History
Smoky Valley Roller Mills was built in 1898 to make flour from wheat. The roller mill was operated by several different owners. It was closed temporarily 1927-1934, until closing for the last time as an active business in 1955. It was originally water powered, but converted to electricity in the 1930s. The building was given to McPherson County in 1962. Malcolm Esping of Lindsborg and George Tesarek, a retired Quaker Oats miller from
St. Joseph, Mo. led the restoration of the building from 1974 to 1981.
The building is now part of a museum owned by a nonprofit organization formed in 2021. The museum grounds also include the
1904 World's Fair
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...
Swedish Pavilion and other buildings with local history exhibits, especially pertaining to
Swedish-American history. The museum is open Monday-Saturday, year round, except for specific holidays. The mill building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1972.
Gallery
Old Mill - Lindsborg KS.jpg, Turbine power house of Smoky Valley Roller Mills
References
Related reading
* Saul, Norman E. ( 2000
Mill Town Kansas in the Age of Turkey Red(Kansas Historical Society)
External links
Old Mill Museum
Industrial buildings completed in 1898
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Kansas
Museums in McPherson County, Kansas
Mill museums in the United States
Open-air museums in Kansas
Swedish-American culture in Kansas
Lindsborg, Kansas
National Register of Historic Places in McPherson County, Kansas
{{Kansas-museum-stub