Old Dutch Mill

Smith Center, KS

Old Dutch Mill

200 E. 3rd (Wagner Park). Much of this mill is a replica of the original octagonal structure built by native German Charles Schwarz near Reamsville in 1879-1882. It used wind power to grind corn and wheat until a kerosene engine was installed in 1913. A rare structure on the Kansas landscape, the mill was moved to Smith Center in 1938 as part of a National Youth Administration project. Imagine sailcloth on the mill’s 60-foot fan blades! That must have been quite a sight around the turn of the century. The mill caught fire in 1955 and everything on the inside burned.

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