Pioneer Flour Mills tower still rises to expectations after 99 years

When San Antonio artist Ray Scarborough used to get lost in Southtown, he would just look up and find the Pioneer Flour Mills tower to orient himself.

“You could say it’s like a beacon in Southtown,” Scarborough said. “I see it as an art piece in itself.”

The nearly century-old Pioneer tower remains a strong presence in San Antonio memories and manufacturing. Completed in 1922, the concrete structure still churns out flour as white as its outer walls, while its castlelike design commands waves of nostalgia.

In her more than 30 years at the historic Guenther House restaurant and museum next to the mill, director Donna Vaughan has heard guests reminisce about a relative who once worked at the mill. And many marvel that the mill is still in operation.

“It’s a part of history that still today gives us that good feeling,” she said. “When they look at (the Pioneer tower) you just see them glow when they talk about it.”

Pioneer Flour Mills dates back to 1851, when it opened along Live Oak Creek near Fredericksburg as C.H. Guenther Mill, named after founder Carl Hilmar Guenther. When drought impacted production, Guenther sold the mill to his father-in-law and bought a site for a new flour mill in 1859 on the banks of the San Antonio River, less than a mile south of the city.

Guenther added a second mill in 1868 and replaced his first mill a decade later. By the turn of the century, the mills produced various grades of flour with labels such as “Texas Pioneer” and “White Wings.”

After Guenther died in 1902, his company rebranded and started using the name Pioneer Flour Mills, its most popular brand. The Pioneer name soared to new heights 20 years later with a state-of-the-art grain elevator.

At 20 stories tall, the boxy concrete high-rise was, for a short time, the tallest structure in San Antonio. “PIONEER” has beamed from the top of the tower in all caps since it was unveiled in 1922 with its whimsical castle-style battlements adorned with mock cannons made from old wagon wheels aimed at downtown.

Vaughan said its unclear when the fake cannons were removed or who designed the tower.

The tower was the inspiration a few months ago for Scarborough’s a limited-edition, twocolor print of the structure. The print features a gaggle of kids in ghost sheets floating up to a full

moon, and Scarborough sold all 50 prints in a single day.

The Pioneer tower was at the heart of a major expansion. In 1924, a seven-story mill building went up on one side of the elevator. Then in 1929, a battery of six giant storage tanks was added to the elevator’s opposite side. The tanks bear their own castlelike topping with the words “WHITE WINGS.” They survive to this day.

The original Guenther House was built next to the mill in 1859, the same year as the first mill, as the home for the family. In 1915, it was transformed into an ornate three-story house, in which the family lived until the late 1940s. The house has been a restaurant and museum since 1988.

Pioneer remained a familyowned company until 2018, when more than 170 family shareholders sold it to a private investment firm, Pritzker Private Capital.

As recognizable as the Pioneer tower is in San Antonio, you won’t find any licensed miniatures or other merchandising. But the tower was featured on the mill’s yearly anniversary plates in 1939 and 1941. The plates are

displayed at the Guenther House.

UTSA Special Collections The iconic Pioneer Flour Mills grain elevator tower is seen in 1931. The 20-story building was completed in 1922.

Jerry Lara / Staff photographer The facility looks much the same today, and that produces nostalgia.