Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Historic Washington County Milling Company Restored For New Use
PRAIRIE GROVE — The only remaining flour mill structure in Prairie Grove has been revived as a new event center for special occasions.
The former Washington County Milling Co. building was in total disrepair when Marcus Nall, who grew up in Prairie Grove, purchased the structure five years ago. He has spent the past five years remodeling and renovating the building, with the intent to keep the building as historically accurate as possible.
Nall is retaining the original name Washington County Milling Co. for his event center and it is now ready for special occasions, such as weddings, receptions and community events. It already has been opened up for two community events, Prairie Grove Ministerial Alliance’s National Day of Prayer program and the May meeting for Prairie Grove Area Chamber of Commerce.
Nall also has purchased Cumberland Presbyterian Church on Buchanan Street and plans to restore it. His goal is to have people use the church for weddings and then go to the Milling Company building for wedding receptions.
“There’s an amazing amount of history with that church and the Washington County Milling Co.,” Nall said.
He has spent a lot of time researching the flour mill and learning the history of the building.
According to a “Walk Through History” about historic downtown Prairie Grove from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, the town’s first flour mill was constructed in 1876 and was in regular use until about 1905. It was dismantled in 1914.
Prairie Grove had two other flour mills located in the southern part of town on Mock Street. L.C. McCormick Mill and Elevator Co. was built in 1902 by L.C. “Fay” McCormick. In 1913, the name changed to Prairie Grove Milling Co. It closed in 1941 and the building is no longer there.
Washington County Milling Co. was built in 1919. According to the book, “A Centennial History of Prairie Grove from 1888 to 1988,” the first president of the new company was F.A. Dorman and the company incorporated with capital of $30,000.
In the early days, flour mills in Prairie Grove operated day and night and turned out about 2.4 million pounds of flour per year. About 60,000 bushels of wheat were shipped from the elevators each year. The railroad cars came by the Washington County Milling
by the Washington County Milling Co. and the product was loaded on the train and shipped out from there. Nall said a lot of wheat was grown in the Prairie Grove area.
A newspaper article from Prairie Grove Herald on July 12, 1923, about Washington County Milling Co. says the “business has been fairly good the past year.” The article noted the mill had installed an up-to-date corn milling outfit and was erecting a warehouse with the capacity of five car loads.
In 1944, Atlas Cohea purchased the building and used it to grind and mix farm feeds and corn meal but not to manufacture flour.
Troy Sherry purchased the business and mill building in 1964, changing the name to Sherry’s Farm Supply. Sherry operated the building as a feed store from 1963 to 2003. The building has remained closed since that time.
Nall, who now lives in Goshen, remembers the building as Sherry’s Farm Supply and going there to purchase feed.
“I always thought it was neat,” he said. Later, as he drove by the abandoned building, he thought it would make a good restaurant.
When the for sale sign went up, Nall said he was interested but also told himself, “Man I don’t have any business buying this.”
He mentioned the building to his wife, Christy, and she said she was willing to pray about it. “She told me if I felt God was giving me the green light, she was on board with it,” said Nall, who is in construction and likes remodeling projects. He admitted, though, he has not tackled a renovation project as extensive before.
For five years he has spent most of his free time on the structure. He completed most of the work himself, coming to the building after he finished work for the day.
“A lot of it is just old-fashioned sweat equity,” he said. “I’ve been here almost every day. It’s been really fun seeing it take shape. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been hard work. I knew I was doing something unique and that kept me going.”
As he cleaned out the building, Nall said he has kept almost everything he could, in case it was historically significant and could be used in the event center. Some of his finds have included old feed tickets, old signs, an old Kansas City Southern railroad map and a writing desk. He later found the top for the desk buried under debris.
He was determined to save the beautiful decking on the inside and to use wood that appeared historically accurate for that time period. In the main hall used for events, Nall has restored the original timbers.
Two pieces of equipment were still in the building when Nall purchased it and he has left those intact. He thinks one is some type of mixer, probably for the Farm Supply store. He said he believes the other machine is the original flour bagger. He has cleaned the equipment and it is in place for visitors to view.
Some of his renovations include new plumbing and wiring, a new roof, a prep kitchen and new bathrooms. One thing he remembers from going to other event centers, Nall said, is that people get hot and the bathrooms are not very nice.
“We have good air conditioning and good bathrooms. I was deadset on doing that right.”
He hasn’t changed the outside much, saying he wanted to keep the industrial warehouse feel on the exterior.
Staff with Arkansas Historical Preservation Program visited the building and encouraged Nall to have it listed on the state and national registers of historic places, according to Rachel Silva, preservation outreach coordinator with the state program. “For sure, Marcus should be commended for his vision to try to restore that building,” Silva said. “You have to have a vision to restore something like that. It also is an industrial property and sometimes people don’t have as much appreciation for things like that when it’s not pretty. I thought his plan was a great idea for an adaptive use of the space.”
Prairie Grove Mayor Sonny Hudson said the new build- ing will be an asset for the community.
“A lot of people in Prairie Grove thought this would fall down or be torn down,” Hudson said. “For someone like Marcus to turn it into this is a big deal for Prairie Grove.”
“It’s been really fun seeing it take shape. Don’t get me wrong, it’s been hard work. I knew I was doing something unique and that kept me going.”
Marcus Nall Washington County Milling Company