No records exist to indicate when William P. Hiddleson built the mill on the east bank of Rock Creek in Clyde Township, Whiteside County on land he had purchased on October 1, 1845; but, it is known that the country mill was in place by 1853 In addition to the mill building Hiddleson built a dam across the creek. The original mill was destroyed by a flood along the Rock Creek and the current mill building constructed in 1858.

On September 27, 1871, the mill complex was sold to Benjamin Hough and became known as Hough's Mill. Hough sold the mill to Jacob Geyer on January 6, 1875 and Geyer's son later owned the property. During S.L. Geyer's ownership the mill became known as Geyer's Mill. Balthaser Schriner bought the mill on April 27, 1887.

The original mill was powered by a vertical waterwheel; the mill, at the time, utilized buhrstones to grind the meal. On the nearby property, discarded buried buhrstones can be found. In the 1870s or 1880s the mill owners added a 20 horsepower (15 kW) turbine to help the mill keep up with advances in technology. In 1888 Schriner installed a set of rollers, manufactured by Barnard and Leas Machine Company of Moline, Illinois, at the demand of his mill operator, Amos Greater, who had threatened to quit if the rollers were not installed.

Millwright, George Appel, from Sterling, Illinois, leased the mill, adjacent land and buildings in 1892. Appel, a recent German immigrant to the United States, installed an oat huller and made oatmeal, corn meal, flour, and bran at the mill with his son, John. The mill, properly known as the Malvern Roller Mill or Malvern Milling Company, became known as the Appel Mill during this time period. The Appel family held the mill from its purchase in 1892 until 1985.

Flour and meal, marketed under the Malvern Roller Mill name, was marketed in Sterling, shipped out the railroad and sold in far away location such as New York City and England.

John Appel took control of the mill in 1926 and operated it until its closure in 1942. During Appel's last years running the mill he limited his customers to nearby farmers who needed grains custom ground for animal feed. He closed the mill due to shortages caused by World War II

A barn across Elm Road from the mill behind the large oak tree. The rectangular shaped building is 26½ (8.1 m) feet by 38 feet (11.6 m). To the west of the mill building is a circa 1890 Pratt truss bridge.

It is the only known mill in northwestern Illinois that retains all of its equipment for an all roller and no grindstone process. If the millrace and turbines are clean the mill could operate as it did when it was in business. The Malvern Roller Mill provides a glimpse at the complexity of late 19th century milling operations.