Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Junk, Events Bring Mill Back To Life
The historic Washington County Milling Company has found new life and a renewed purpose in recent years.
Marcus Nall is the Prairie Grove man behind the Mill’s preservation and annual Junk at The Mill events.
“We brought The Mill back to life,” he explained. “It was in pretty poor repair when we bought it. No one had used it for several years.”
Originally constructed in 1919 with additional space added in 1923, The Mill was a hub of commerce for the Prairie Grove area for decades.
“I guess business had been good in the early twenties and they needed more room for storage of flour,” he suggested. “They produced four million pounds of flour a year in Prairie Grove. The train tracks came down Commercial Street, which is the street behind The Mill and the flour was loaded on the trains and left from there. The railroad station was catty-corner from the Mill. It makes you think a little bit.”
Marcus said he had been intrigued by the milling company since he was a young boy growing up in Prairie Grove.
It was a “monumental” effort to bring it back to life. But, he believes it was well worth it.
“People love it,” he bragged. “I’ve not heard one person say one bad thing about The Mill. When they see it they are blown away. They love the way it looks. There’s a lot of wood in there and people comment on the wood smell when they walk in. We use linseed oil on the floors and it has a unique smell and keeps it original.”
Marcus remembers buying cattle feed at the mill as a young man. Even then he was fascinated by the structure and its history.
“I always thought it was a neat building,” he said. “In those days it was dark and you couldn’t go in the back section. I always thought it was a cool building and it would be a cool place for a restaurant or something. One day I drove by and it was for sale. I thought to myself… ‘Man, I have no business calling about this.’”
In those days, Marcus said he wasn’t really in a position to buy the old building but decided to toss caution to the wind.
“I called about it and it was pretty reasonable,” he said, surprised. “I made an offer and they took it. I bought it in 2009 or 2010. It just takes you back in time and gives you the feeling of wondering what life was like in those days. It was the center of commerce with what was happening in those days.”
Flash forward almost 100 years and The Mill is again a center of commerce, but in an entirely different way. Now an events center, the venue is also home to Junk at The Mill, a signature event in Prairie Grove, which draws antiquers, collectors, junk pickers looking for hidden treasures and families in search of entertainment or history.
“It’s great free entertainment for families,” he said.
“You’ll find just about anything here from wagon wheels to old car bumpers to vintage signs. Golly, we had 57 booths last spring and there was a steady stream of people for two days.”
Want to go?
Junk at The Mill is set for Thursday, Oct. 5, Friday, Oct., 6 and Saturday, Oct. 7, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 501 South Mock Street, Prairie Grove.
Call 479-841-5380 or 479-957-0948 for details or to schedule an event at the Washington County Milling Company Events Center.
“I guess business had been good in the early twenties and they needed more room for storage of flour. They produced four million pounds of flour a year in Prairie Grove. The train tracks came down Commercial Street, which is the street behind The Mill and the flour was loaded on the trains and left from there. The railroad station was cattycorner from the Mill. It makes you think a little bit.”
Marcus Nall