September 13, 2023 – Allenton, Wi – The old Farmers Grain & Feed building on Railroad Street in Allenton, Wi is coming down. The building dates to the 1920s when area farmers would bring their John Deers and little gravity wagons or even horse-drawn wagons and dump their feed and ear corn and get it ground and other ingredients added and then back out to the farm it goes.
Photos courtesy Ron Naab.
Tim Kreilkamp is the owner of the mill. The 100-year-old building sits to the west of the railroad track and just south of Highway 33. “The Hess family were the original owners,” said Kreilkamp, who purchased the property in 2006. “We got it from Terry Theusch and Dave Schellinger.”
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Kreilkamp said the silos will stay; the production facility is coming down. “It’s the middle section that’s coming down from the office to the warehouse,” said Kreilkamp. “One of the key parts is when we’re dismantling this, nothing will be going to a landfill. Everything will be reused or scrapped.”
Dust from the working days of the elevator rest atop empty white feed sacks. Dry wheat chaff and random kernels of corn are tucked into corners by grain bins or surround the flooring around thick wooden beams of a doorframe.
At the old Farmers Grain & Feed, memories of a vibrant era of farming are worn into the fabric of the building. Now gone are the loud days when grains would flow through the colorful bins and an array of pullies would be drawn into action as simple signage kept the mill grinding and the economy in Allenton humming.
As of the publishing of this story, no historic treasures have been found between the walls. But stay tuned….
If you have any memories of the old Farmers Grain & Feed, feel free to post them below. A second article with a photo gallery is in the works.
