The Emlenton Mill

The Emlenton Mill was built on this site in 1875 by James Bennett and Albert Cochran as the Emlenton Flouring Mill. Originally steam-powered, it milled grain brought by farmers and also received grain by the Allegheny Valley Railroad, with its own private railroad siding. During World War II, it was used to store Quaker State motor oil and U.S. Army trailer parts manufactured by Butler County's Bantam Car Company. After the war, milling resumed and the mill was converted to electricity. Around that time, Eugene "Twig" Terwilliger began working there, and after two years he and Robert Rumbaugh bought the mill on December 12, 1952, renaming it Emco Mills. Terwilliger closed the mill in 1974 and sold hardware from the attached Main Street storefront. In the 1980s, he and William Stump renovated the building for a cooperative with craft stores on the first floor, antiques on the second, and a deli corner business, and they also gave historical tours. Paul and Nancy Newbury bought the mill from Bill Stump in 2005 and established the non-profit Old Emlenton Mill Foundation, turning it into a museum with a scavenger hunt and a climbing wall in the largest grain elevator. After another renovation, it also housed a music venue, an ice cream shop, an antique shop, and a hostel that could sleep up to 35 people. On February 5, 2015, the entire mill burned in an extensive fire, ending its 140-year history in the Allegheny Clarion Valley.

Emlenton, Pennsylvania · United States