Tag Archives: innovation

Tillotson’s work at Estill, S.C. met changing needs as Lowcountry agriculture evolved

by baggyparagraphs
An industrial building complex featuring a large, weathered silo and various machinery, set against a foggy backdrop.

By Ronald Ahrens and photos by Kristen Cart

When Harper and Bowers wanted to expand their grain operation in Estill, S.C., they went with Midwestern expertise. Stiles Harper and Grover Bowers were on the cotton side of things upon founding their company in 1947 but branched out in the early 1950s as South Carolina farmers found success with double cropping. Grain followed by soybeans was a development that sent the producers looking for sufficient storage and handling.

To foster this new practice, Harper and Bowers sponsored a soybean-growing contest. The winners for the 1953 crop were a father-son team, R.C. and Bobby Deloach, the boy being a 4-H club member,. They harvested 36 bushels per acre. Deemed a success, the contest was renewed for 1954.

Stiles Harper was an Estill native who attended the University of South Carolina. He was 37 years old when he cofounded Harper and Bowers, Inc. Besides leading efforts in soybean processing by cofounding Southern Soya Corp., he also advocated for pine tree plantations and was named South Carolina Tree Farmer of the Year in 1977.

Grover Bowers, Jr. was a University of South Carolina graduate who fought with the Marines in the Pacific Theater during World War Two, achieving the rank of captain. He served one term in the South Carolina senate and in 1978 received the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest civilian honor.

A vintage black and white photograph of a 149-foot grain elevator with a capacity of 125,000 bushels, located in Estill, South Carolina.
Burrell elevator, 1951

The first Harper and Bowers elevator, with 125,000-bushels capacity, was built in 1951 by Thomas L. Burrell, Inc. of Indianapolis. Then the partners commissioned Tillotson Construction Co. of Omaha to put up a 225,000-bushel storage annex in 1952.

The next year, Tillotson was back to build a companion elevator, a 334,000-bushel twin-leg job with a striking curved cupola that added 50 additional feet to the Lowcountry skyline. The expansion enabled Harper and Bowers to accommodate the needs of area farmers, a point that’s elaborated in an article from The Press and Standard on Oct. 15, 1953:

A newspaper article discussing corn price support rates, storage challenges, and loan information for farmers regarding shelled corn and ear corn.

A 1954 news report indicated Harper and Bowers planned a storage annex to join the Tillotson elevator, further increasing capacity at Estill to 1 million bushels.

Kristen visited the location in 2014 and took the pictures seen with post.

Key specifications on the two Tillotson jobs are listed here:

  • 225,000-bushel annex in 1952: 
  • 9 tanks measuring 18 feet in diameter and reaching 108.5 feet in height. 
  • Full basement
  • Upper run measuring 14.0 x 93.0 feet 
  • Belt conveyors, 20-inch belt at bottom and 24-inch belt at top 
  • 13 internal bins 
  • 1,509 tons of reinforced-concrete, 25 more tons for hoppers 
  • 75.27 tons of steel 
  • Slab 50 x 78.5 feet, 21 inches thick 
  • 9,582 tons gross weight loaded  
  • 334,000-bushel twin-leg elevator in 1953 
  • 10 tanks measuring 18 feet in diameter and rising 120 feet 
  • 21 bins 
  • 2,620 tons of reinforced concrete, 63 more tons for hoppers 
  • 131.59 tons of steel 
  • 52 x 107.5-foot slab, 21 inches thick 
  • 16,701 tons gross weight loaded 
  • Cupola: 19 x 33.83 x 49.33 
  • Pulley centers 176.0 feet apart 

Pages 6 and 6A of Tillotson Construction record, 1950 to 1951, Palmer, Iowa to Hereford, Tex.

by baggyparagraphs
A grain elevator with silos and a loading structure, located beside train tracks, under a cloudy sky.

Pages 6 and 6A of the Tillotson Construction Co. record document the stretch in 1950 to 1951 when the company further extended its accomplishments as a builder of reinforced-concrete grain-storage buildings, completing main-house elevators or annexes at sixteen locations.

The Omaha company led by Reginald O. Tillotson and Mary V. Tillotson produced 3,685,996 bushels of new capacity in this period. Jobs were in Nebraska (6), Iowa (7), Missouri (1), and Texas (2).

Here’s the complete list of locations: Palmer, Ringsted, Ocheyedan, Thompson, Palm Grove, West Bend, and La Porte, Iowa; Cedar Bluffs, Aurora, Omaha, Wahoo, Greenwood, and David City, Nebr., Sunray and Hereford, Tex. (seen at top in 2018 photo); and Malta Bend, Mo.

A detailed construction record sheet for concrete elevators, featuring columns for item description, measurements, labor costs, and totals from various locations including Palmer, Ringsted, and others.
Black and white document displaying construction records of concrete elevators, detailing specifications, machinery, and remarks for various sites.

Tillotson was in a continuation of its major phase. The average capacity among these sixteen jobs was 230,374 bushels. Not bad for a company that started with 60,000 bushels at Goltry, Okla. in 1939.

The smallest commission was the 50,000-bushel elevator at Malta Bend, Mo.

Largest was the 550,000-bushel storage annex at Sunray, Tex., which had to leave everybody connected with the job impressed.  

Best-known from these sixteen locations is the Omaha terminal elevator with 382,880-bushel capacity. An annex was later added at this Vinton Street site. The elevator no longer operates, although there are once again plans afoot for redevelopment. Meantime, many people find it to be an eyesore. A mural project a few years ago tried to address that.

David City, Nebr.
Vinton Street, Omaha
Wahoo, Nebr.

Special notes on page 6 indicate that Tillotson built a 19-foot Stran-Steel bridge at Sunray and the Greenwood job was “rainy @ start.” Notes on page 6A show Omaha included a train shed, truck shed, truck scale, and office.

In addition to the aforementioned bridge, Sunray also had a basement tunnel.

The reader is invited to peruse these records to find additional details.

All’s well that ends well at Tillotson’s 1946 elevator in Wellsburg, Iowa

by baggyparagraphs
A grain elevator building under construction, resembling future designs by the Tillotson Co. in Wellsburg, Iowa.

By Ronald Ahrens

It was urgent business indeed as Tillotson Construction Co. undertook a $47,500 elevator for Snittjer Grain Co. in Wellsburg, Iowa. The Frerichs and Snittjer wood elevator burned in 1944–just the latest fire at that site. In the wartime period, it wasn’t automatic or quick to build a replacement. The interval without sufficient grain storage in the Grundy County village had farmers scrambling.

Nor had it been automatic that a partnership would endure. Harm Frerichs, the former bank cashier who teamed with Sherwood Snittjer, died in 1940. Frerichs was 52 years old at his death, which was attributed to double-pneumonia. “He had been afflicted with diabetes for a number of years,” the Waterloo Daily Courier reported. He also owned Grundy County Oil Co.

His funeral rite at the local Reformed church brought together “perhaps the largest number ever to assemble in Wellsburg,” according to an obituary, which didn’t mention the elevator.

Map showing location of a specific area in Iowa, with a highlighted region indicating the focus area.
Wellsburg, Iowa (red dot) from Wikipedia map

Without further details of the new entity, we can say the partnership ended, Snittjer proceeded, and Tillotson started building on his behalf in 1946. The Daily Courier reported on July 14:

“Two crews will be employed until the work is completed. There will be four silos 80 feet high, with a capacity of 50,000 bushels. A driveway and dump pit will be constructed between the silos. The elevator is being constructed of steel and cement.”

The Des Moines Register followed up the next week, saying the silos would be 84 feet high.

Newspaper article headline and text about the construction of a steel and concrete grain elevator by Snittjer Grain Co. in Wellsburg, Iowa, detailing costs, height, capacity, and a historical note about a previous elevator that burned in 1944.

Page 1 of the Tillotson construction record cites a revised 1939 plan from Goltry, Okla. as the basis for this new elevator. Goltry, a 60,000-bushel house, was Tillotson’s first concrete elevator. Wellsburg capacity is listed as 50,650 bushels. A note about the tanks gives their diameter as 12 feet, same as Goltry, but evidently they weren’t as high. The job consumed 662 cubic yards of reinforced concrete, another seven yards for the hopper, and 30 1/3 tons of steel. (Goltry used 758 cubic yards and 32 1/2 tons.)

This early page of records lists total costs, less commission, at $47,500. Expenditure for labor was $21,473. A note in the costs section says “costs incl. whse and office partly built.”

For an example of wartime inflation, look at Goltry’s total cost: $21,522.97. Call it $50 greater than Wellsburg’s outlay just for labor.

Other Wellsburg costs (transcribed literally): Cement @ job $6,842; Sand @ job (3,000# c.y.) $1,944; Rock @ job (unclear); Re-steel @ job (J-rods, wires & nipples) $2,246; Lumber $1,991; Machinery $5,500; Structural steel $776; Electrical mat’l $597; Doors & Windows $1,148; Painting & water proofing $30; Hardware (Bolts, nails, etc.) $515; Equip. expense (Depreciation, rentals etc) $2,526; Freight (Not included above F.O.B job) $192; Sub-contracts $94; W.H. Tax & Ins. $1,718; State taxes $430; Miscel. (Overhead, job office, plans, bond, etc) $725.

Two large grain silos standing in a field under a clear blue sky.
Tillotson’s 1939 Goltry elevator at right.

It’s instructive to look so closely at the books because, after this first series of elevators listed on page 1, costs are omitted from the records. Nor is a page 1A available with additional specifications such as height of drawform walls and dimensions and height of the cupola.

On Oct. 15,1946 the Courier declared the Wellsburg elevator to be finished and open for operation: “It stands 110 feet high, is 45 feet square and has four silos connected by bins. Peak capacity will total 60,000 bushels.”

Using the same plan yet again, Tillotson started a job the next year in Rushville, Nebr. To show how the finished result would look, they sent a photo of Wellsburg to the local newspaper. That picture is seen at the top of the post.

Industrial grain storage facility with tall silos and a loading conveyor, under a clear blue sky.
Wellsburg complex, Brad Perry photo

The Wellsburg elevator’s fate was unclear until Brad Perry supplied the photo seen above. Snittjer Grain continued as an independent operation until being purchased in 2023 by Landus. World Grain reported: “Landus has 56 licensed grain storage facilities with 152.686 million bushels of storage, according to Sosland Publishing Co.’s 2023 Grain & Milling Annual, which places it 10th among grain handling companies in North America. Landus also has access to seven railroads.”

Page 5 of Tillotson Construction record, 1949 to 1950, Wapello, Iowa to Rock Valley, Iowa

by baggyparagraphs
A large grain silo complex with multiple white silos against a cloudy sky.

Page 5 of the Tillotson Construction Co. record documents the stretch in 1949 to 1950 when the company extended its accomplishments as a builder of reinforced-concrete grain-storage buildings, completing main-house elevators or annexes at sixteen locations.

The Omaha company led by Reginald O. Tillotson and Mary V. Tillotson produced 3,744,000 bushels of new capacity in this period. Jobs were in six states: Iowa (3), Nebraska (1), Kansas (1), Colorado (3), Oklahoma (5) and Texas (3). 

A detailed construction record chart for concrete elevators, featuring columns for items, measurements, and cost totals, with entries for various project locations and specifications.

Here’s the complete list of locations: Wapello, Alta, and Rock Valley, Iowa; Bellwood, Nebr.; Clifton, Kan.; Seibert, Burlington, and Flagler, Colo.; Bushland, Canyon, and Hartley, Tex.; and Helena, Imo, Drummond, Pond Creek, and Kildare, Okla. 

Bushland, Tex. is pictured at the top of this post.

Tillotson was in its maximalist phase. The average among these sixteen jobs was 234,000 bushels. Not bad for a company that a decade earlier (with time off during World War Two) started with 60,000 bushels at Goltry, Okla. 

A row of large concrete silos against a blue sky, with a metal catwalk and equipment for grain handling.
Pond Creek, Okla.
Silhouette of a tall grain elevator against a sunset sky with clouds and distant train cars.
Canyon, Tex.

The smallest commission was the 100,000-bushel storage annex at Helena, Okla,, where Tillotson had built the main house two years earlier. Its capacity, too, was 100,000 bushels. 

Largest in this group were the 320,000-bushel elevators at Canyon, Tex. and Bellwood, Nebr. Both followed the same plan with eight tanks measuring 20 feet in diameter and reaching 120 feet in height. There were 22 internal bins and a dust bin.

Aerial view of a construction site with several structures, vehicles, and piles of lumber. Two large round tanks are present, along with a wooden platform under construction.
Flagler, Colo.
View of grain silos and a welcome sign for Flagler, a historical community, along a paved road lined with trees.
Flagler photo by Gary Rich
Black and white image of a construction site featuring wooden structures and supports, with a partially assembled circular framework in the foreground and background buildings visible.
Flagler, Colo.

A digital copy of Page 5A of the records, giving more complete specifications, isn’t available for this post.

Mayer-Osborn used Stran-Steel on 1950 Coors job in Johnstown, Colo.

by baggyparagraphs
Black and white advertisement for Stran-Steel, highlighting its advantages for light-load construction. It features scenes of various construction projects using Stran-Steel, along with details about its strength, durability, and applications in military and civilian structures.

By Ronald Ahrens

After being established in Denver in the late-1940s, Mayer-Osborn Construction Co. sought innovation in methods, which led to use of Stran-Steel in the elevator they built for Adolph Coors Co. at Johnstown, Colo.

It would be necessary to look at the plans for this elevator in order to know more about technique and application, but an assumption is that Stran-Steel was easier to work with than labor-intensive rebar.

The Coors job got underway in the spring of 1950. The Johnstown Breeze announced:

“Preliminary work began Tuesday on the construction of the new receiving and storage elevator for Coors’ Moravian malting barley here. The elevator, which will be of concrete and strang [sic] steel construction, is being built by the Mayer-Osborn company of Denver and will be completed prior to July 1 when harvesting normally is started on the malting barley crop to be received at the elevator.”

Stran-Steel–commonly misspelled as “Strang”–was introduced in the Good Housekeeping Stran-Steel House at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

An advertisement for the Good Housekeeping-Stran-Steel House, highlighting its design and features. The illustration shows a modern steel house surrounded by greenery, with text discussing its affordability and construction benefits.

The Coors elevator went up on a former stockyards site in the railroad triangle southeast of Johnstown. The area is today known as Colorado Sweet Gold, a slick name for an industrial park.

In that long-ago time, the United States Brewers Foundation sponsored a “Beer Belongs” campaign to encourage beer drinking in the home instead of taverns. Coors was expanding its production of Moravian barley, as recorded by History Colorado:

“Coors scaled up the barley program quickly, enhancing the vertical integration of its operations and further tightening its control over the entire supply chain. A breeding program at the experimental farm the company created in 1949 in the San Luis Valley developed improved high-altitude varieties from the original seed stock … Grain storage facilities were built beginning in the 1950s near Loveland, and in Monte Vista in the San Luis Valley, collecting barley directly from the farmers and storing it until it was needed at the brewery in Golden, where a large new custom-designed malthouse was completed in 1957.”

Johnstown is twelve miles from Loveland.

Once the job got going, The Breeze reported on April 27 that burglars forced a lock at the combination tool shed and office. They stole $550-worth of stuff. Construction superintendent Ralph McAfee said the loss included two large power saws and “numerous” other tools.

Text from a document discussing the benefits of Stran-Steel, including its construction from light gauge strip steel, ease of erection by carpenters, and the compatibility with standard building practices and materials.
Stran-Steel explained in company promotional literature archived by the University of Chicago

We’ve found no further news of the construction or details of the elevator itself, but it was surely finished by September when Mayer-Osborn billed the Johnstown Town Board of Trustees $7.20 for supplies.

Additional searching reveals some aspects of Mayer-Osborn’s nature. For one, the Colorado Grain, Milling and Feed Dealers Association Bulletin reports that in an October 1952 conference, Eugene Mayer served as a member of the Equipment and Engineering Panel. Other members were Curtis Wagner, chairman; D.O. Ferris, Richardson Scale Co., Denver; Ray Barmington, Colorado A&M research engineer.

Mayer-Osborn was community-minded as well. In 1954, the Arvada Enterprise reported Mayer-Osborn’s midget baseball team would play the Lakewood Terrors on July 3.

Another item shows that, as with so many other elevators then and now, a Mayer-Osborn house could the scene of tragedy. The Associated Press had reported on July 18, 1952:

“Charles Myers, 16, of Johnstown was killed this morning when he was buried under a barley slide inside the Coors elevator here. Death was probably due to asphyxiation, but an autopsy will be held to determine the exact cause, Coroner Ross Adamson said. The coroner reported the boy and Bill Freauf, elevator manager, went inside the elevator to run grain into a truck. Mr. Freauf left the bin for about ten minutes and was unable to find the boy when he returned. Rescuers got the boy out about 40 minutes later and a Johnstown physician worked with a resuscitator for two hours in a futile attempt to revive the youth, Adamson said. The youth, a Johnstown high school student, was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Myers. A sister [Marjorie] also survives.” 

It was an devastating tragedy for all.

What became of Mayer-Osborn’s barley elevator is unclear. Photos on the Colorado Sweet Gold website show nothing we would expect of an elevator from that era. Further searches concerning the elevator’s fate turns up news (link here) of an explosion and fire in October of 2005 and a “collapsed” grain elevator. No more details than that, but it suggests an unhappy outcome for Mayer-Osborn’s innovative elevator that met the needs of the Coors company in 1950.

Rising from the plain, a bean house has a concave cupola in Dove Creek, Colo.

by baggyparagraphs
Close-up of a silo with antennas and equipment on top, against a blue sky.

Story by Ronald Ahrens with photography by Mark Vaughn

Crossing from Utah into Colorado on U.S. 491 leaves a traveler with very little to look at. The landscape is wide open and featureless, giving extra significance to architectural wonders that may be encountered. As he left the Beehive State on this route and approached Dove Creek, Colo., our friend Mark Vaughn found his drifting thoughts interrupted by the stirring sight of a concrete elevator.

A person riding a green bicycle on a paved path surrounded by greenery in a sunny outdoor setting.
Mark Vaughn

Vaughn’s thoughts then turned to his favorite blog, Despite being overcome by mad inspiration, he kept his car on the road while taking a picture through the windshield.

As West Coast editor for Autoweek, keeping cars on the road has been a Vaughn specialty for thirty-seven years. His interest in elevators is a more recent development and redounds to our benefit.

With contoured sides, an overhanging brow, and twin rectangular windows as “eyes,” the bare concrete structure at Dove Creek looks like a tall, broad-shouldered robot. Studying the results of Vaughn’s scouting leaves us marveling at the concave cupola, which is of a rare design.

Who built this elevator? And when? The answer could well be on the cast-iron plate covering the manhole. This plate is seen near the bottom of the left-side tank. We wouldn’t be surprised if embossed lettering names Mayer-Osborn Construction Co., of Denver, as the builder. Mayer-Osborn had incorporated curvature up top into its design vocabulary during the company’s early 1950s heyday.

Alas, Vaughn’s high rate of speed precluded his stopping in order to climb up and read the plate.

Our call to High Country Elevators, Inc., of Dove Creek, has not been returned. Nor has anything turned up in our search of newspaper archives.

A tall concrete grain silo next to a small building, set against a blue sky with wispy clouds.

Dryland bean production is big in southwestern Colorado, and elevator capacity at Dove Creek is devoted to pinto beans. If indeed this was a Mayer-Osborn job, we can’t say our grandfathers always built grain elevators. Sometimes they built bean elevators.

A large concrete grain silo next to a metal storage building, with a white silo and a rolling door visible in the foreground.

The Dove Creek Press probably holds answers to our questions, but that newspaper is archived on microfilm at the Colorado Historical Society. Because Vaughn didn’t stop there either, we won’t know anytime soon.

Excitement and drama of 1947 elevator in Rushville, Nebr., Part III

by baggyparagraphs

Story by Ronald Ahrens and photos by Kristen Cart

Not a stick of wood!

So boasted George Bacus, Northwest Grain Co. boss, when he announced in June of 1947 that Tillotson Construction Co. was about to start a 99,000-bushel single-leg elevator in Rushville, Nebr.

It would be based on the plan established in 1941 at Sheldon, Iowa with four tanks measuring 14.5 feet in diameter and reaching 100 feet in height.

The tab for this elevator “of the most modern design” would come to $60,000. Details of the financing were not reported.

“We have long felt the need for more storage capacity and are quadrupling the grain facilities here because we want to keep Rushville the most attractive grain market in Sheridan county,” Bacus told the Sheridan County Star.

Other towns–Gordon, Hay Springs, and Clinton–could eat their hearts out.

The Tillotson elevator would rise on the site where the old Wolvington elevator was being torn down. Walter Wolvington, an auctioneer who went into the grain business, first partnered with Lester Davis in the purchase of the Aplan elevator in Rushville. Their next move, reported in the May 15, 1925 issue of The American Elevator and Grain Trade, was to buy the Nye Schneider elevator.

The partnership may have dissolved. After more than two decades, Wolvington sold to Bacus, who since 1939 had managed Farmers Elevator in Hay Springs. A big fire at that facility led him to go into business for himself.

In a display ad of Sept. 27, 1945, Wolvington wrote:

“Having sold my elevator I want to take this means of thanking the people of this community for their business and their loyal support during the twenty-two years I have been in the grain and coal business. Your friendship and your patronage are deeply appreciated. George Bacus, the new owner, is well experienced, friendly, and co-operative and will serve you efficiently and honestly. I will continue in my auctioneer work. See me for dates.”

Combined with the Aplan elevator and Rushville Roller Mills, total capacity in Rushville would increase from 40,000 to 130,000 bushels.

Not only was it the size of the new elevator, but also the speed of operation that impressed everybody. Thanks to the 20-horsepower motor in the cupola, the pace of boxcar loading would rise from 500 to 2,200 bushels per hour.

Construction was expected to take ninety days.

In Part II of this three-part Rushville series, we detailed the important steps in construction, and indeed the work was mostly wrapped up in October. The exception, though, was the electrically operated man lift, which was only installed in February of 1948. The Star’s description is worth repeating:

“The man lift is a miniature electric elevator which will provide transportation from the basement of the elevator to the head house. It will save employees of the local grain company a lot of strenuous climbing as it is necessary to go up to the head house several times a day when grain is being loaded out. The elevator has a small wire cage, about the size of a phone booth and operates exactly like elevators in Omaha department stores. A two horsepower electric motor at the top operates a steel cable which lifts the elevator cage at the rate of ninety feet a minute. The complete trip of 110 feet from basement to headhouse takes just over a minute and is a good deal easier than climbing the iron rung stairs fastened in the side of the elevator shaft.”

The Rushville elevator served Sheridan County farmers for decades. Now, after Kristen’s visit on May 23, we figure the facility is out of service. A couple of calls to Rushville to inquire about the present status produced nothing on the present ownership. But Kristen reports:

“Windows are broken out of the headhouse, and the scale house needs paint and appears unused. Concrete foundations remain after several round bins were removed. It’s hard to tell what they were. The metal sheds and round bins seem to be in use and in good condition. When I was there, the place was deserted, but in May that is to be expected.”

We did reach Jerry Wellnitz at the Sheridan County Historical Society. He heard the elevator building was condemned.

“The foundation is getting bad on it,” Wellnitz said.

After the admiring description of the foundation in Part I, which noted the slab was a foot-and-a-half thick with 97 cubic yards of concrete, it’s hard to believe there’s been degradation. Yet it’s pretty sure the elevator faces its 80th birthday in a state of limbo.

Excitement and drama of 1947 elevator in Rushville, Nebr., Part II

by baggyparagraphs

Story by Ronald Ahrens and photo by Kristen Cart

June of 1947 was the wettest on record with more than seven inches of rain across western Nebraska. Hail destroyed an estimated one million acres of winter wheat statewide. Beans and other irrigated crops in the North Platte Valley took a hit. Cornfields were written off, hay spoiled in the fields, and uncut alfalfa became woody.

Even though Chicago and North Western Railway chief dispatcher Louis Remillard had accumulated 70 boxcars for grain on the Chadron-Long Pine division, the Northwest Grain Co. in Rushville found incoming wheat testing above 14 percent moisture content and refused one load after another. 

Besides the unusually lush pastures, though, there was a positive effect. At Rushville, the rains softened the ground to the benefit of Tillotson Construction Co. foreman Earl Connors and his crew as foundation work started around July 1.

In blanket coverage for the Sheridan County Star, editor Phil Gottschalk documented the drama of construction foot by foot. Forms started to rise from the ground at 1.00 a.m. on Sept. 5 after a delay in accumulating enough materials. Before long, work had started on the cupola (headhouse). 

By Oct. 2, the elevator was promised to be ready soon. Whitewashing started next, and the detailed description of the “dazzling coat of white ‘mix'” is worth noting:

“It couldn’t be called a paint because there is no paint in the concoction which consists of white cement, volcanic ash, salt, and several other chemicals. The mix will waterproof and seal the outside of the elevator as well as improving its general appearance. The coating will get whiter in a few months as the sun and the salt bleach it out.”

Tillotson foreman Earl Connors expected job completion by Oct. 21.

After operations started, the new elevator received praise for storing grain that would otherwise have been kept on the ground.

“Practically all of the 40,000 bushels of grain which were laying on the ground in Sheridan county on October 15 have now been safely stored in farm bins or commercial elevators. The Northwest Grain Company elevator in Rushville was completed in time to absorb nearly all the grain in this area which had been left outside because of a previous lack of storage space. Since the new elevator began taking grain steadily about October 27 over eleven thousand bushels a day have been received for storage. Grain has been arriving at the rate of about a thousand bushels a day, for example on Monday of this week 1,525 bushels were received. Most of this grain is coming from Oglala and Pine Ridge territory as practically all of the Sheridan county grain has already been stored or sold. ‘The elevator holds 100,000 bushels, so we are a long way from being full yet,’ Mr. Bacus said Tuesday. He anticipates quite a rush on grain receipts immediately after the first of the year but believes the new elevator will be able to handle all that comes to Rushville.” 

While editor Gottschalk was pleased, the Star’s columnist Mabel Grimes–whose thoughts open the previous Rushville post–had nothing whatsoever to say about the handsome whitewashed elevator. And in 1952, when she went to Chicago and covered the Republican National Convention for the Star, the C&NW budgeted $10,000 for installation of a signal light at the intersection just west of the depot. Frank Cook’s flagging service was no longer needed.

Our third post on Rushville will go into the background of ownership and the transformational nature of the new elevator.

Excitement and drama of 1947 elevator in Rushville, Nebr., Part I

by baggyparagraphs

Story by Ronald Ahrens and photos by Kristen Cart

The Chicago and North Western Railway depot in Rushville, Nebr. finally got a fresh coat of paint in the summer of 1947. Paint and painters had been scarce during the war years, and the depot needed attention. Local newspaper columnist Mabel Grimes explained that people thought such an important place of business shouldn’t look so shabby, but a touch-up job had been practically impossible.

“Now, she shines like the morning sun–a lovely bright red!” Grimes wrote in her “Swingin’ up Main Street” column for the Sheridan County Star.

At the same time, there was another forward step, a new sale barn, but it made Grimes worry about traffic at the railroad crossing.

“The hopes of the City Council for a ‘ding-dong’ signal at the crossing have faded—at least temporarily. In its place, Frank Cook sits (or stands) and waves his little red flag! Traffic will undoubtedly increase mightily [with] the Sale Barn and new Elevator across the tracks. And the little red flag might wear out—in time. We do need a loud signal there.”

Cook didn’t have to man the crossing all that often, though, so his flag would have had a long life expectancy. The Cowboy Line of the C&NW carried just a few trains per day on this route to Chadron. Nevertheless, the thought of him in his duster during stormy conditions generates respect.

The elevator in question in the northwestern Nebraska town was the 99,000-bushel single-leg monument then under construction by Tillotson Construction Co.

Foreman Earl Connors oversaw a crew that mixed seasoned Tillotson hands with fresh local talent. As the project got into full swing, the Star noted on July 10 that Leon Lupher, Jr. and his wife had come to Rushville to work on the elevator, and on July 4, their parents arrived to visit from Minatare (home of another Tillotson elevator) and Northport, bringing “well filled” picnic baskets, the contents to be enjoyed in the shade at the park.

In its July 17 edition, the Star noted: “Elevator Goes up Fast.”

“Construction of the new 100,000 bushel elevator is two weeks ahead of schedule, G.A. Bacus, manager of the Northwest Grain Company, said Wednesday. The elevator is ahead of schedule because the construction company found the digging of the basement and boot pit to be much speedier than expected, the ground being soft and easily worked. This week a concrete slab a foot and a half thick was poured to form the basement of the 45 foot square structure. The slab contains 97 cubic yards of concrete—about equivalent to two railroad gondola car loads of concrete. The slab is being made thick because it will bear three thousand tons pressure from the empty elevator and six thousand tons pressure when the elevator is full. This means that there will be a load of nearly three tons to the square foot on the concrete slab base. Approximately 55 tons of reinforcing steel and tremendous amounts of sand, gravel, and cement will be used in completing the 125 foot high structure. Wooden forms for the four large corner bins, each holding 14,000 bushels have been completed ready for installation.” 

An editorial in the same issue lauded the backers of the sale barn and elevator.

“Every load of grain or herd of cattle sold in Rushville will enable the Rushville businessman to expand his operations, pay more taxes, contribute more money to community projects, and build Rushville into an even more attractive trade center and place to live.”

We’ve never found stronger testimonials to the fact that an elevator increased not only prosperity but also happiness. 

Our next post will document foot by foot the rise of the Rushville elevator. 

California dairy exodus will change crops, affecting southern Great Plains elevators

by baggyparagraphs

Elkhart, Kan.

Story and photos by Brad Perry

When you see southwest Kansas down to Amarillo, Tex. from the air (or Google Maps), a distance of 150 miles, you see thousands of center-pivot circles. The pivots were installed to grow corn for the beef-cattle industry, the huge feed yards that are located in this part of the U.S. It’s not unusual to see 100,000-head-capacity yards in this region. It became a “cattle magnet” with the construction of the IBP kill facility at Amarillo in the early 1970s. 

Why here?  Because of few people, water from the Ogallala aquifer, cheap natural gas to power the wells, and a plentiful supply of feeder cattle from Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico ranchers.

This heavily irrigated part of the Great Plains, and the crops that are now grown there, will be changing as drastically as any agricultural region in the U.S. 

Why? “The cows are coming!” It’s is one of the two major areas to where California dairy cows are being relocated.  

Why? Water issues and concerns about methane emissions in California.

In anticipation of all these dairy cows, new cheese plants have been built in Dalhart and Lubbock, Tex. and in Dodge City, Kan. 

The other area where California cows are moving is the Columbia Valley of the Pacific Northwest. And to point out what most folks don’t realize—California, not Wisconsin or Minnesota, has been the number-one dairy state for more than 30 years.

Tillotson elevator at Rolla, Kan., 1948
Rolla in more recent times

Here’s the change: When the cows move in, farmers tend to switch to growing forages rather than corn. It means alfalfa, grass mixtures, and specific corn varieties for silage rather than grain. They’re important for proper nutrition for dairy cows, high in protein (especially alfalfa) and the roughage is great for a ruminant. An acre of forage crop can produce about twice the biomass as compared to corn. On top of that, forage production uses significantly less water than irrigated corn. And on top of this, forages can’t be shipped in by train. An AI overview explains: 

Forage crops like hay and silage are rarely shipped by train because they are bulky, have a low financial value per pound, and spoil or catch fire easily if handled or stored incorrectly over long distances. Trucks offer a faster, door-to-door option for regional deliveries where rail lines do not go.

Tillotson’s elevator at Ensign, Kan.

Corn, and lots of it, will be imported into this market, as it has been to California. The beef cattle are still there and corn will supplement the dairies’ rations.  That’s why there has been a big push to build train-unloaders. JDH (formerly J.D. Heiskel & Co.), 5V, a joint venture between Five Rivers Cattle Feeding and Viserion Grain, and Viterra, which on July 2 merged with Bunge, are building shuttle unloaders in this market. The Andersons, of Maumee, Ohio, purchased ADM’s interest in Skyland Grain for the same reason.

We’ll see rather quickly the change in cropping patterns. I suspect these changes will move all the way to Dodge City, Kan. and beyond. 

And, yes, it will dramatically impact the grain elevators in this market.