The Queen Bee Mill

The Queen Bee Mill was a massive seven-story flour mill built on the bank of the Big Sioux River in early Dakota Territory from quartzite found on the site. Led by R. F. Pettigrew of Sioux Falls and financed by investors headed by New York City banker George I. Seney, the project began in August 1879 on an 81-acre tract purchased for $38,000. After two years of construction and fitting, the mill was completed at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. Standing 104 feet tall, 80 feet wide, and 100 feet long, it used water diverted from the Big Sioux River to drive a large turbine generating 800 horsepower and could produce 1,200 barrels of flour daily, employing one hundred men in and around the complex. Before grinding its first wheat, it survived the April 20, 1881, flood caused by runoff from melted snow and ice, with damage limited to its offices. The mill began grinding Dakota spring wheat on October 25, 1881, but by early 1885 it was bankrupt, owing $97,000 to creditors. Its failure was attributed to insufficient waterpower, scarcity of high grade wheat, and inability to pay dividends to investors. After changing ownership several times, the complex closed shortly after World War I following use as a storage facility, and on January 30, 1956, fire destroyed the mill, leaving portions of its walls as reminders of past economic struggles.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota · United States