A Virtual Visit to The Thompson's Mills Museum and Interpretive Center
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Our trip begins in Albany, Oregon where we have just spent the night at a motel and had a relaxing breakfast at a nearby restaurant. We drive south on Highway 99E (Old Pacific Highway). Albany's historic district is a few blocks to our right, and up ahead is the south Albany industrial area, Linn-Benton Community College and several grass seed warehouses. Just past the intersection with US Highway 34 is the town of Tangent. The road parallels Union Pacific Railroad's mainline to California. A bridge carries us over the Calapooia River, named for the Native American Indians who inhabited the region before settlement by pioneers. And just a short distance beyond lies the community of Shedd. Before entering Shedd, we turn left onto Boston Mill Drive. The historic Methodist Church is on the west side of the intersection. Our destination is only about one and one-half mile east of the intersection. The surrounding fields are flat expanses of green grass waving in the slight breeze. Then, all at once we see the storage tanks with the red and green emblems of two brands of flour once made at the old mill. DELICIOUS and VALLEY ROSE are their names. Above the apple logo is the earlier mill name; THOMPSON'S FLOURING MILLS. We turn left into the designated parking area. The historic Queen Anne style mill owners house built in 1904 is to the left. Three old out-buildings have been restored. One is a blacksmith shop where we saw a man heating metal in a forge and making various useful things. The red-hot metal really sizzled and steamed when he quenched it in a 55 gallon drum of water. A retail store and another shop with a wagon and horses are further along in the courtyard. Restrooms are available near the parking lot. A small parking lot for handicapped people is adjacent to the entrance of the Boston Mill. A series of interpretive panels are located on the grounds to guide us to particular points of interest. Our guide leads us past a collection of native American artifacts such as a hollow log and pounder for making meal from grain and roots. Baskets, arrowheads and similar items used by the American Indians are on display. A story about "Indian mounds" that dot the area provides information on lifestyle and areas occupied by the Calapooia Tribe. As settlers moved over the Emigrant Trail and into the Oregon Country and the Willamette Valley, their "promised land" destination; they usually rested at Oregon City before searching for good farm land further south. The trails they followed were higher ground along the foothills to avoid the wet land so common in the winter and spring. Maps showed us these routes, and the early settlements which later grew into the towns we now know as Scio, Lebanon, Sweet Home, Brownsville, Crawfordsville, Albany, Peoria and Harrisburg. These towns are all located along major streams; the Santiam, Calapooia and Willamette. We then move on to a collection of utensils used by pioneer women in making bread, and that bread making was an essential activity. But without flour all she could do was pound wheat or grind it in a small coffee mill brought with them over the trail. Our kids tried their hand at grinding wheat using a mortar and pestle and an old coffee mill. Our guide told us about the farmers who took up a collection to loan one of the farmers enough money to build a grist mill. The farmer, "uncle" Dick Finley, built a mill at some small waterfalls further up the river. Water caused the wheel, which was connected to a huge round stone, to turn against another stone. Wheat placed between them was ground into grist, a crude form of flour. Our guide now leads us to the next area. In this area we learn about wheat and other cereal grains such as oats, corn, barley, rice and rye. Did you know there are about 30,000 varieties of wheat grown throughout the world? And that these cereal grains are really seeds? We also learn how the farmers plant, grow, and harvest the grain. And, we learn why certain grains are very important for our food and for the other animals. We also learn about the principle crop now grown in the area -- grass seed for lawns, golf courses and pastures. We learn that this part of the Willamette Valley is only one of two regions of the entire world where conditions are right for successful growing of quality grass seed. |  Landscape Birds-Eye View by Interpretive Exhibits for the Boston Mill Society Click on images for larger view.
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Our guide takes us to an area showing how modern methods of
making flour have changed from pounding grain, to grist mills,
and then roller milling. A special display and model shows the
work of Oliver Evans, inventor of modern industrial automation,
which he applied to flour milling. This was in the year 1787!
Modern technology permits efficient separation of grain into its
components, and then recombination to produce blended and
specialty flours. I learned that soft wheat, as sometimes grown
in the Willamette Valley, makes good donuts and apple pies, but
to make real good bread requires a hard wheat such as grown in Montana and Kansas. Our guide brings us to another area.
In this area we learn about the history of the old BOSTON MILLS, the town of Boston Mills and the millwrights, millers, carpenters and others who made their home and living right here. The original mill burned down shortly after it was built, but they quickly built a new one. The original mill used the old stone Buhrs. Millers really liked the ones from France because they stayed sharp longer. Sharpening the stones is called dressing, and is done by chipping away furrows in the stone following certain patterns. Later, the stones were removed and replaced with faster machinery called roller mills. And, at the same time other equipment was added for moving grain and flour around as well as cleaning and sifting. When this happened, the name of the mill was changed to BOSTON ROLLER MILLS. Gradually housewives stopped baking bread at home and started buying bread at stores. Fewer and fewer farmers brought their grain here to be ground into flour. Large mills in the city were more efficient, and did not depend on water power directly to operate their machinery. The original mill building was a two and one-half story timber-framed structure using mortise and tenon joints with wood pegs holding them together. Huge logs were harvested near Crawfordsville, and brought here to be shaped into timber using tools called broadaxe and adze. If you look carefully you can see the chopping marks of the adze on some of the old timbers today! The mill now contains three turbines. They are located under water, so a model has been provided to allow one to see how they work. Our guide leads us into the original old Boston Mills. A set of mill stones is set up and the miller shows us how they work. He points out the various parts of the system and describes them by name. Around the walls were old flour sacks, tools and machinery. An old roller mill was there as well as a sifter. Many of the tools were used by millwrights and carpenters to make and repair wooden parts for the mill such as pulleys, chutes and spouts. Our family thought this was the best part of our visit to the old mill. At completion of the demonstration, we went into the outer office and saw photographs of the old mill at various times in its history. We looked into the inner office and saw the old safe that had BOSTON ROLLER MILLS painted on its front with gold paint. Photographs of mill owners, millwrights, millers and carpenters were on the walls. We said good-by to our guide as we left the mill, got into our car and headed back through Shedd and on to our motel in Albany. If we have the time, we can explore a restored natural area, visit a small museum in Shedd, or a larger one in historic Brownsville. Maybe we can do that tomorrow. In the area are some covered bridges that we can visit. It is amazing to see how much things have changed over the years, and that change is still going on! We had a wonderful time at the Thompson's Mills State Heritage Site and will tell all our friends how much fun we had in Linn County, Oregon. |
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