Approaching the northern limit for concrete elevators at Jackson, Minn.

by baggyparagraphs
A tall grain silo with three cylindrical sections, set against a clear sky, featuring electrical wires in the foreground and nearby buildings.

By Ronald Ahrens with Brad Perry

Tillotson Construction Co. completed an elevator at Jackson, Minn., seven miles north of the Iowa state line, and it remains in use. We would like to say more about its history, but too little is clear. The completion photo seen above comes from Tillotson archives. “Jackson, Minn” is scrawled across the back in pencil without a date.

Attempts to access Jackson County Pilot newspaper archives failed.

Additionally, there’s no entry for the Jackson elevator in company records, although there is an entry for 100,000 bushels of storage in 1949. Here’s the link to all specs from that job.

A grain elevator facility with large silos and industrial equipment under a blue sky.
Tillotson elevator at the center in Jackson, Minn. Photo by Brad Perry

Instead of historical details of the elevator’s construction, we offer some perspective about what makes grain storage in Minnesota and the Dakotas a different matter as compared to other Grain Belt states just to the south, namely, Iowa and Nebraska, where concrete elevators abound.

Ronald: Do you have a take on why Tillotson built only a couple of elevators in Minnesota?

Brad: There were, and still are, some old-line construction companies in Minnesota that built a number of elevators in both Minnesota and Iowa.

Ronald: As we go north, concrete seems to lose its advantages.

Brad: Wood elevators were still being built in the 1970s in Minnesota and the Dakotas. I was always told that wood is a much better insulator (Duh!) and maintains grain quality better in cold climates.

Grain silos and warehouses alongside a railway track, with a water tower visible in the background and greenery in the foreground.
Wood elevator complex at Minnesota Lake, Minn. Photo by Brad Perry
A large, gray grain elevator building stands against a cloudy sky, featuring multiple storage silos and loading equipment, with a nearby stop sign and train crossing sign.
Wood elevator at Bricelyn, Minn. Photo by Brad Perry

Brad (continued): All over Minnesota you’ll find 100,000- and even 200,000-bushel wood houses and especially annexes. Concrete in Jackson makes sense—it’s about on the Iowa line. I can still remember a wood house for the Sisseton, S.D. co-op that we financed in 1976 at over $5 per bushel, which was two times the cost of concrete at that time.

Ronald: I went through Sisseton once. It’s near the North Dakota line. That’s as close as I ever came to North Dakota.

Brad: Another reason could also be due to livestock. Other than the southern two tiers of counties, Minnesota producers fed their corn to dairy cattle, hogs, and turkeys so that somewhat less of the collective storage was required. Minnesota is still the number-one state for turkey production.

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