Turning Water into Power

Dillard Mill is one of Missouri's best preserved examples of a water-powered gristmill. Built around 1900, it continued to grind grain until 1956 and has been restored to operational order. Its power came from a Samson turbine manufactured by the Leffel Co., with wooden and metal-teethed gears transmitting power to the drive shafts. Milling began with cleaning the grain, as cleaners removed dirt and debris from corn or wheat before it entered the rest of the system. A roller mill handled the first break by shearing the husk from the wheat kernel, and dressers then sifted flour through progressively finer wire and silk reels, while a sifter in the foreground was used for corn. A flour sack used at the mill between 1930 and the 1950s is also reproduced.

Missouri · United States