website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown,
Wisconsin
Globe Mill
318-321 S
Water
In its day, the old mill on South Water Street was the hub of activity for a farming community.
Hundreds of gears turned as grain was pulverized into flour, generated by power from the Rock River.
Globe Mill
1853 One of three mills in town:
1] West side of river,
Built 1848 Emerald Mill
Empire Mill
Globe Mill
A to Z Farm Center
c1992 Bought by Empire Globe
Corp.
2001 Building destroyed by
fire
2] East side of river, Yellow Mill, built 1842. In 1848 upgraded from water power to steam power
3] East side of river, Big Brick Mill, built 1848.
In 1881, in company with Jonas Sleeper, Fred Miller engaged in the manufacture of flour at the Brick mill, the site of the present waterworks plant. The firm was known as F. Miller & Co., which later became the Globe Milling Co., the output of which at one time was 70,000 barrels of flour a year, and sold out his interest in 1885.
The Empire Mill, first known as the Emerald Mill, was built by Fay & Cramer of Milwaukee on the west side of the Rock River in 1848. On the opposite side of the river, built in 1842, was a mill known as the “Old Yellow Mill” and then, in 1848, another called the “Big Brick Mill”. In 1853 there were three flouring mills as they were then called. This was boom time in Watertown.
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1848 The Emerald Mill Opened
Rock River Pilot,
03 29 1848
The splendid new mill, on the west side of the river, belonging to Messrs. E. & J. Cramer of Milwaukee, and B. F. Fay of this village, went into operation on Thursday last. The mill building is 40 by 45 feet, and five stories high. It was drafted by that able and widely known millwright and machinist, Ira Miltimore of Chicago, and is designed for four run of stone [four run of stone is taken to mean four working pair of millstones], two of which are now working successfully, each being driven by one of Rose’s improved re-action wheels.
A wheel of the same description turns a perpendicular shaft, which passes through all the floors, propelling the machinery that works the smutter [note: a smutter or fanning mill removes the smut, mold, fungus and any dirt clinging to the grain], which is in the basement; the screen, blower, meal conveyors, and return conveyors, which are on the second floor, and the bolts, which are on the fourth or bolting floor. The third floor is occupied by the stones, etc.; the fifth as a grain store. The bolt chest is one of the finest in design and finish we have ever seen. It is 21 feet long, 14 wide, and 14 feet high, and contains five bolts. The whole of the complicated, yet simple and beautiful machinery attached to the main shaft is propelled by 98 inches of water. With 350 inches of water to propel the two wheels, each run of stone has ground wheat at the rate of 25 bushels per hour, and it is believed that 30 bushels per hour can readily be ground by each run of stone. Thus this mill without the additional two run of stone, can convert flour from 3 to 400,000 bushels of wheat annually.
The millwright work has been under the immediate supervision of Mr. Thomas Keegan, a mechanic of no ordinary skill and ability. Mr. Fox, an able and experienced miller, formerly of the Niagara mills, Black Rock, directs the flouring operations. He is assisted by his brother, who is also a master of his profession.
Much credit is due to the proprietors of the mill, for their persevering enterprise, and to the mechanics employed in its construction, for the science and skill they have displayed. No expense has been spared in its completion and everything in and about it has that highly finished appearance so desirable in mills or other buildings but so seldom found in a new country. Those who are competent to judge say that it is unquestionably the best mill in Wisconsin. It is a great acquisition to our village and the surrounding country; and we have no doubt that the proprietors will realize their most sanguine expectations in the deserved success of the Emerald Mill.
1858
07 29 Lower Dam rebuilt after flood WD
1860
07 26 V. D. Green & Co. of the Red Mills purchased winter wheat; Salsich pushing forward addition to mill WD
1876 Globe Mill Telephone No. 1 /
First Phone Installed in Watertown
In 1876 the first
telephone in service in Watertown was installed in the office of the Globe
Milling Co. by the late John B. May, prominent photographer of Watertown, who
conducted his business on the site of the present
Masonic temple and he resided in the home now occupied by Owen T. Hughes,
[312] Washington Street. Mr. May put in
telephone service in Watertown at his own expense, and operated it for nine
years, and in 1884 he disposed of it to the Wisconsin Telephone Co. WG, 12 29 1932. The Globe Mill Co.'s phone number, No. 1, was still
maintained as late as 1957, in a City Directory ad
1894
1898
Globe Mill, 1898, Image of, WHS_006_387
1903
09 11 Globe Mill In Full Operation
The
improvements, under construction at the Globe Mill in Water Street for some
time, have been completed and the mill is now in full operation, turning out
its famous "White Daisy" and other brands of flour and other products
manufactured by it. New machinery of the very latest kind for
milling purposes has been added, and the mill is now one of the very best
equipped in Wisconsin. At present the
mill is being operated entirely by steam, but when the remodeling of its water
power plant has been completed, water power will
also be utilized. The Globe Milling
Co.'s, product is very popular in Watertown and vicinity, and the local trade
is quite extensive. Some of the largest
jobbers and bakeries in the eastern and central states are also supplied with
the product of this mill, New York City especially taking a large quantity of
the flour manufactured. Over $250,000 in
wages has been paid out by this company
in Watertown since its incorporation 18 years ago, hence it will by seen that it is an industry that certainly
deserves encouragement here, for it is one of our most important
commercial interests. WG
1915 Ad
1922
In front of building is the first motorized
vehicle used by the firm for deliveries.
Prior to 1922 the deliveries were made by horse and wagon.
1957
07 24 Ray Kaercher, vice president of the Globe Milling Company, has been selected to direct the Red Feather Drive in Watertown in October. Mr. Kaercher is now lining up division leaders and laying plans for the coming drive. In the 1956 drive Mr. Kaercher served as associate drive chairman working with industry and payroll deduction. WDT
1958
07 02 Effect proposed Rock River water diversion would have on
milling concerns. WDT
1999
07 09 Retaining wall along river destroyed WDT
2001
05 03 130-year-old mill building burns WDT
2006 ROC building, 321 S Water
2007 River Mill Residences
12 19 Approval of conceptual plans for the redevelopment of the former Empire Globe property as River Mill Residences. Total project will encompass the area along the west bank of the Rock River just north of the Mill Race Terrace Apartment building and will go north and include the upper and lower city parking lots on the east side of Water Street from the east end of Emmet Street north to include much of the city parking lots. WDT
Cross References:
Ira O. Howe was a miller, 1881
Nicholas Bickner employee
Sanford’s barrels are generally used by our millers
