Feed Mill

If it's more than a little strange to find so many post cards of Manawa, it's about ten times as strange that there are any pictures of this feed mill, not to mention the five or six I have. But there are. And the way things are going, I'll bet there are lots more that I haven't seen.

This is the Nelson-Esche feed mill on the north bank of the Little Wolf river. N.G. Esche built it in 1891, and went into partnership with Ottomar Esche in 1895. The building survived until the 1980's, but I don't remember exactly which year it was demolished. The modern Sturm Memorial Library stands on about the same spot today.

How they got the picture above is beyond me. If the milk condensory was across the river, the photographer must have been on the roof. Either that, or he shinnied up the smokestack.

Here's a much clearer picture, without the bridge in the way. The photo was taken to show the height of the flood waters as the Little Wolf river swelled to the tops of its banks. The millpond dam is just out of sight to the right in both these photos. The mill used the hydraulic power of the dam for a while.

I climbed to the top of the building once with my dad, who went up to take a photo from the upper windows. It was as big and open as an icehouse, with huge wooden hoppers holding tons of corn, and the dust in the air was so thick that it caked up around the edges of my eyes. Great view from up there, when I could see. We peered at the town from the dormer windows in the mansard roof.

Page maintained by Dave Okonski :: last update 8 March 2004