Mill Details

Magnolia Mill / Elson's Flouring Mill

Stark Co. | Ohio | USA
Known Dates: 1834
Township: Sandy Twp.
Watersource: Sandy & Beaver Canal off of Big Sandy Creek / now
Location / Directions

Magnolia Mill / Elson's Flouring Mill

Eleven miles south of Canton, Ohio on Cleveland Avenue SW/Oh 800, turn left on Westbrook St. at the north edge of E. Sparta. Go SE for 4 miles and turn right on Willowdale Avenue SE, go 0.75 miles into Magnolia. Willowdale St. becomes N. Main St. and Harrison intersects almost immediately. Turn right on Harrison to the mill.

Verse for Thought
"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."
({Psalm 46:10 NKJV})
Magnolia Mill / Elson's Flouring Mill
Harry Hill 05/31/2002

The large 3.5 story frame mill was built on a sandstone foundation in 1834 by Richard Elson in Sandy Township, Stark Co., Ohio in the town of Magnolia. Hand-hewn timbers were used troughout the frame work and the special frame work needed to support the gear/shaft structures.

Magnolia Mill / Elson's Flouring Mill
Old Postcard

A postcard from 1900 of Elson's Mill in Magnolia, Ohio.

Magnolia Mill / Elson's Flouring Mill
Harry Hill 05/31/2002

Since 1947, Mack and Lorene Elson, Richard's children(the builder's great-grand children), have owned the mill and managed the enterprise. Either in 2005 or 2004, the mill was sold out of the family. The Sandy and Beaver Canal off the Big Sandy Creek had supplied water for the waterwheel still in the basement. The mill used sets of grindstones powered by the wheel until it was converted to the roller system in the 1870's or 1880's.

Magnolia Mill / Elson's Flouring Mill
Harry Hill 05/31/2002

A photo of a Nordyke & Marmon roller mill unit Manufactured in Indianapolis, Indiana. The operation of the mill passed to Richard's son, Augustus R. Elson, in 1881, who along with his three sons, worked the mill with great success and the mill was expanded. Richard, John, and Frank Elson continued with the milling of flour from 1920 through 1940, when the mill was changed over to electric operation and, about the same time, began operation solely as a feed mill. The old railroad station is situated behind the mill and is now used as a warehouse.

 
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