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.

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

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.

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.