Mulliken’s elevator failed several years ago. They began tearing the place down yesterday….
For over a century, this grain elevator was the main reason for Mulliken. This railside complex was the farming community’s touchpoint with the larger world. They’d come to buy seed before planting, then return to sell the grain they’d grown from the seed. This routine made for an interesting, seasonal parade of vehicles on Potter Street. July’s winter wheat harvest was a particularly busy time; trucks, tractors, and trailors would line Main Street day and night as the farmers and staff would struggle to get the grain from truck to hopper.
That’s gone. A few years back, a fire gutted the office. The owners rebuilt. Then the contents of one of the silos got wet, rotted, and stank up the town. They cleaned it up, but that crop was a total loss. The business limped on for a few months after these disasters, then failed. The place was vacant, except a few stray cats, for a couple years; a family converted the office into a home and has now lived there for some time. They’re now removing the ancient buildings, and the silos.
Photo taken October 5, 2003. Camera: Olympus Camedia C-50
Turns out they only partially dismantled the complex. About half of it remains.