Thorp Mill is a historic building located in

Thorp, Washington Thorp ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. In 2015, the population was 317 according to statistics compiled by Data USA. The town of Thorp is east of Seattle, nort ...

, United States. On November 23, 1977, the Thorp Mill was placed on 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 ...

.National Register of Historic Places.
Retrieved 2011-09-19. The landmark is maintained by the Thorp Mill Town Historical Preservation Society, which aims to preserve the mill for the benefit of the local community and to make it available for the benefit of people seeking to understand American culture and history. To this end, the organization now devotes itself to developing the mill site both as an interpretive site and as a gathering place for community activities, maintaining and fostering the close sense of community and family and the enterprising spirit that is the town of Thorp's heritage, while allowing it to carry those values forward into the future and into the world community.

History

''See also, History of the Town of Thorp'' In 1878, James L. Mills traversed the trail over the Cascade Mountains from

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

by foot, and saw great possibilities in the Kittitas Valley. He built a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

west of the current town site in 1879,Eugene J. Brain, "Thorp, Washington," The Coast Magazine, Vol. XV, May 1908 (from ''The Coast,'' Honor L. Wilhelm, pp. 366-7). diverting water from the Yakima River to turn its wheels.Thorp Mill Town Historical Preservation Society
Retrieved 2011-10-14. The sawmill had a capacity of 7,000 feet daily. Not content with the sawmill, Mills devised a way for the same wheels to power the North Star Mill, a

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

that Oren Hutchinson had built at the town of Thorp in 1883, to provide feed for

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

and

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

for the local residents. The four-story mill provided farmers throughout the

Kittitas Valley Kittitas County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. At the 2020 census, its population was 44,337. Its county seat and largest city is Ellensburg. The county was created in November 1883 when it was carved out of Yakima Coun ...

with the convenience of local processing for

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

crops, as well as serving as an important hub for community activities.HistoryLink, "Thorp Mill begins operation in the Kittitas Valley in April 1883," Essay 5073.
Retrieved 2011-09-22. The North Star Mill was best known for its leading brand "Tip Top". In 1907, the energy from the water wheel at the North Star Mill was utilized to power a steam generator having a 40-

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

dynamo, which furnished

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

for laundering clothes two mornings each week, and for lighting homes for a few hours each evening. This gave Thorp the distinction of being among the first towns in Washington to have electricity, and the smallest unincorporated town in the Northwest to have

electric lights An electric light, lamp, or light bulb is an electrical component that produces light. It is the most common form of artificial lighting. Lamps usually have a base made of ceramic, metal, glass, or plastic, which secures the lamp in the soc ...

. The Thorp Mill continued active operation until its closure in 1946. On November 23, 1977, it was placed on the

Operations

The mill utilized

Yakima River The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people. Lewis and Clark mention in their journals that the Chin-nâm pam (or the Lower Snake River Chamnapam Nat ...

water brought to the area through a system of canals. A horizontal water wheel powered both the gristmill and a nearby

. An ice pond and

log pond A log pond is a small natural lake or reservoir used for storage of wooden logs in readiness for milling at a sawmill. Although some mill ponds served this purpose for water-powered sawmills, steam-powered sawmills used log ponds for transportation ...

were located nearby, as well. The ice pond was used for recreational

skating Skating involves any sports or recreational activity which consists of traveling on surfaces or on ice using skates, and may refer to: Ice Skating *Ice skating, moving on ice by using ice skates **Figure skating, a sport in which individuals, ...

, and from it

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

was harvested to chill the train cars that carried local fresh produce to market. In the latter part of the 19th century, the nutritional content of

ground with the

wheat germ Cereal germ or Wheat germ: The germ of a cereal is the reproductive part that germinates to grow into a plant; it is the embryo of the seed. Along with bran, germ is often a by-product of the milling that produces refined grain products. ...

intact was a vast improvement over flour

ground Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...

without the wheat germ, and contributed greatly to the health of settlers in developing communities. However, the presence of wheat germ also meant that the flour would

spoil Spoil or spoils: *Plunder taken from an enemy or victim *Material (such as rock, earth or other overburden) removed during: ** excavation **mining **dredging *An Australian rules football tactic, see One percenter (Australian rules football)#Spoil ...

quickly, especially in the heat of summer. A local mill allowed area residents to process smaller quantities of wheat at a time. In addition, since the gristmill processed other grains for animal feed, locals were able to "fatten out"

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

intended for market and to keep their working stock in better condition. Kittitas Valley farmers brought their wheat crops to the Thorp Mill in wagons, and the

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

was ground into

, bran, or feed for livestock. Initially the grain was processed between huge stone burrs that had been brought laboriously via wagon from The Dalles, Oregon. In 1895, the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad depot enabled importation and installation of more efficient steel roller burrs. The railroad also provided local farmers with an easy means to sell their flour throughout the

region.Ruth Kirk and Carmela Alexander, ''Exploring Washington's Past: A Road Guide To History'', Revised Edition, Seattle and London: University of Washington Press (1995) pp. 127.

Thorp Mill Town Historical Preservation Society

The Thorp Gristmill stood unused for 40 years. To restore it would be an expensive project, and there seemed no hope of obtaining the necessary funds until a request for community centennial projects raised the hopes of an enterprising group of people. The Thorp Mill Town Historical Society began with a handful of Thorp High School alumni who decided to preserve the old gristmill located near the edge of town. Research revealed that although the local mill once was the center of every small community, nearly all such mills are gone now, destroyed by fire or dismantled during the Second World War. Today, the organization is actively engaged in preservation projects focused on the Thorp Mill and the surrounding community of Thorp. The members maintain the mill as a landmark and museum, providing tours and interpretive information for visitors. In collaboration with Central Washington University, the society has engaged in the collection of historical records that are curated by the CWU Brooks Library, including historical photographs, documents and ephemera that provide a rich archive of historical and research materials. Each year, the Thorp Mill Town Historical Preservation Society produces events that raise funds to maintain the mill, and expand the offerings it provides to the local community. In addition, the North Star Mill's combination of functions and its early production of electricity draw the interest of industrial historians nationwide.

External links

Thorp Mill Town Historical Preservation Society

Thorp School District No. 400

CWU Brooks Library, Thorp Historical Photograph Collection
The Thorp Mill Town Historical Society Collection consists of images depicting life in Thorp and central Kittitas County, Washington from the late 19th Century to the middle 20th Century.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em Grinding mills on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Mill museums in the United States Museums in Kittitas County, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Kittitas County, Washington