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History

In 1879, after five years of secret planning, Charles Alfred Pillsbury announced to the public that he would build the largest and most advanced mill the world had ever seen. He had traveled to mills all over the world, searching for the best technique for milling flour on a large scale. Despite the convention of the time, Pillsbury decided that he wanted his new mill to be designed by an architect in order to make the building visually appealing. An architect named LeRoy S. Buffington, with the loose advice of several engineers, carried out the design.

Construction started in 1880 and was finished in 1881 under a contractor named George McMullen. The mill was built to put out 5,000 barrels a day when a 500-barrel mill was considered large. It attracted a lot of attention from many people who thought that there was no practical need for a mill to ever exist due to the demand of flour in the day. For some years the mill was not run at its intended capacity. Part of the building was used as a warehouse and for other purposes.

Due to vibrations of milling machines and poor design in 1905 the mill was fortified and certain sections were rebuilt. To this day the walls bow 22 inches on the top. Unlike other similarly large mills in the area, most notably the Washburn A Mill, the Pillsbury A Mill never exploded or caught fire. And as a result, it still contains its original wood frame.

As the years progressed, mill output picked up due to technological advances in the milling industry. However other larger mills were created elsewhere and the sparkle that once surround the great mill left.

The building is a National Historic Landmark and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.

Source: Wikipedia

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