Instant Coco Wheats and Baking Mixes were Manufactured Here until 2012

Little Crow Milling Company Factory, Warsaw Indiana

Date added: December 22, 2024

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Indiana
Industrial

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Construction was completed on the original building of the Little Crow Milling Company Factory in 1924. The Little Crow Milling Company continued to expand its line of specialty food products through the 1970s and the late 1980s, with Instant Coco Wheats being the last new product introduced. The last physical expansion of the Little Crow Milling Company Factory, the large metal-clad rear addition to the south block, was constructed in 1977 specifically to serve as additional storage and packaging space for the company's two new products, Little Crow Popcorn Oil and Hip-O-Lite Marshmallow Creme. Although no building permits or company records have been identified that show exactly when this addition was completed, a newspaper clipping from 1978 references the "recent" additions to the company's product lines and the related physical expansion, though the metal-clad addition was removed as part of a recent (2016-2017) rehabilitation.

The Little Crow Milling Company Factory was a nationally-known manufacturer of specialty flours, baking mixes, and cereals that served as one of the most successful and long-lived industrial operations in Warsaw during the 20^th Century. The Little Crow Milling Company was founded in 1903 by local businessman Wilbur F. Maish. During its early years, the company operated a typical small milling business, serving local farmers who brought their grain in small batches to be sold or ground for feed or flour. By the late 1910s, the family had developed several special baking mixes that expanded its reach into regional markets. When the company's wooden mill building burned to the ground in 1919, Little Crow emerged from the ashes with a new factory building and a new direction for the business.

Between 1908 and 1985, Little Crow developed custom mixes for pancakes, cornbread, breading, and flavored hot cereals that were at the forefront of the trend towards shelf-stable, convenient food products. The company's most iconic products, Coco-Wheats hot cereal and Miracle Maize cornmeal mix, were developed during the 1920s and 1930s in the Little Crow Factory and continue to be sold at retail stores across the country. The Little Crow Factory, designed by Wilbur F. Maish and constructed by prominent local contractor Merle "Brick" Hodges, served as the headquarters and sole processing facility for the company from the time of its construction in 1924 until 2012 and was expanded by the family as production increased. The Little Crow Milling Company (known in later years as Little Crow Foods) operated in the building from 1924 until 2012, when the company was sold to Minneapolis-based MOM Brands.

The Little Crow Milling Company Building is located in Warsaw, a city of approximately 13,500 as of the 2010 United States Census. Located 50 miles southeast of South Bend in northern Indiana, Warsaw is set amid a cluster of four lakes-Winona Lake, Pike Lake, Hidden Lake, and Center Lake. Warsaw is the county seat of Kosciusko County, and was named after the capital of Poland, which was home to the county's namesake Tadeusz Kosciuszko. The first European settlers arrived in the area in 1834, and the town was first platted by Christopher Lightfoot in 1836, the same year that Kosciusko County was formally organized. One year later, Warsaw was named the county seat, and a temporary courthouse was constructed at the town's center.

In its early decades, Warsaw grew as a commercial, industrial, and government center for Kosciusko County. By the time it was incorporated in 1854, the town contained over 1,000 residents. That same year saw the arrival of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad, which was the first rail line built in the county. The line (which later became the Pennsylvania Railroad) was laid along Jefferson Street, south of the courthouse square. The Cincinnati, Wabash, and Michigan Railroad, the first rail line to run north-south through the county, came through the city in the 1870s.

The arrival of the railroad galvanized commercial and industrial development in Warsaw in the late 19^th Century. Lumber mills, flour mills, farm implement and wagon shops, and other small industries proliferated just south and east of the courthouse square, close to the city's two rail lines. Several companies also continued operation in older structures built around the courthouse square during the city's first years of development. Among those early buildings was a frame flour mill located at the southwest corner of Lake and Main Streets, just opposite the courthouse. Although its original owner is unknown, the building was reported to have been erected in the mid-1850s. By the late 1870s, the mill was owned by J. D. Thayer, a wealthy businessman and politician who served as state senator for Kosciusko and Wabash counties in the late 19^th Century. Thayer owned many mills and grain elevators throughout northern Indiana. This mill would later become the first home of the Little Crow Milling Company.

By the early 20^th Century, Warsaw was a small but thriving city of approximately 4,000 people. According to the 1910-1911 Warsaw City Directory, the city's industrial sector was modest, consisting primarily of small shops that supported the region's agricultural economy or the building industry. There were three farming implement dealers, seven blacksmith shops, two foundries, three machine shops, two lumber mills, an overall manufacturer and a broom factory. One notable exception was the DePuy Manufacturing Company, the world's first commercial manufacturer of orthopedic appliances, which was founded in 1895 by chemist Revra DePuy. DePuy and rival company Zimmer Manufacturing, founded by former DePuy employee Justin O. Zimmer in 1927, would make Warsaw a center for the production of artificial limbs and orthopedic appliances during the 20^th Century.

In 1911, there were five grain dealers operating in Warsaw: Kinsey Brothers, Ripple & Son, Smith Milling & Grain Company, the Warsaw Elevator Company, and Little Crow Milling Company. Little Crow, founded in 1903, was one of the last milling companies to open in Warsaw. However, of these companies, only Little Crow made the transition from traditional flour milling to food product manufacturing to remain a thriving business in the city of Warsaw through the end of the 20^th Century.

The Little Crow Milling Company was organized on May 4^th, 1903 by Wilbur F. Maish with Edgar E. Lehman and James R. Frazer as initial partners. Wilbur F. Maish, born in Warsaw in 1861, was the son of furniture maker Jacob Maish and his wife, Susan. Wilbur married Louise Boss in 1885 and the couple settled in Warsaw to raise their family. In December 1896, Maish formed the Maish Manufacturing Company, a foundry and machine shop specializing in the production of mill machinery. By 1910, the company employed 15 workers.

With Maish at the helm, the Little Crow Milling Company purchased the four-story frame flour mill west of the Courthouse formerly owned by J.D. Thayer and began operations immediately. For the first decade of its existence, Little Crow operated as a typical small milling company. Local farmers brought small batches of grain to be sold or ground into feed or flour for their own personal use. Wheat, corn, oats, and rye that the company purchased from farmers was shipped whole to larger terminals to be ground for commercial use, but Little Crow did mill, package, and sell all-purpose wheat flour to local retailers under the Little Crow and Red Raven brands.

Maish quickly realized the limitations of the local milling business model, which was highly competitive, and began to look for ways to diversify the company's products to reach a larger market. In 1908, the company developed a line of prepared pancake flour and buckwheat flour. Little Crow pancake flour combined wheat and corn flour with leavening, seasoning, and powdered milk. Housewives needed only to add water and eggs to make pancakes. Little Crow did not invent the concept of the pancake mix, the Pearl Mixing Company in St. Joseph, Missouri began producing ready-made pancake mix under the trade name "Aunt Jemima" in 1899. However, Little Crow's addition of powdered milk to their pancake mix meant that users did not need to have milk on hand to use the product. To help incentivize retailers, Little Crow packed three dozen bags of its pancake flour in covered clothes baskets. The baskets provided extra protection for the bags during shipment, and the retailers could sell the baskets for an extra profit. Using this model, Little Crow successfully marketed its products to wholesale grocers as far south as Indianapolis.

The Little Crow Milling Company continued to grow slowly but steadily through the 1910s, expanding the distribution of its prepared flour brands. For long-haul freights, the company switched from bags to printed cartons. A 1911 advertisement in L. B. Hillis' History of Kosciusko County listed six brands of prepared baking flours, including graham flour, buckwheat flour, prepared pancake flour, and corn meal, as well as mill feed, chop feed, chicken feed, oil meal, and cottonseed meal for livestock. The company also received a favorable mention in L. W. Royse's A Standard History of Kosciuscko County, Indiana, published in 1919, which cited Little Crow as a "leading local industry" in Warsaw.

On June 27^th, 1919, the wooden mill building that housed the Little Crow Milling Company caught fire and burned to the ground. Fortunately, the company's mixing and packing machinery for its signature pancake flour were housed in a brick storage building on the end of the lot that was largely spared from the blaze. The company operated from this location for several years before profits were sufficient to allow for the construction of a new factory.

By the time Little Crow was ready to build, the company's new direction was set. When Wilbur Maish drew up the plans for the new factory, he did not include any milling or graining facilities, which the company had been operating successfully without for three years. Instead of processing raw materials from local farmers, the new building was designed to focus on storing, blending, and packaging prepared baking and flour blends. On March 30^th, 1923, Little Crow purchased the property at the southeast corner of South Detroit Street and West Market Street from Henry Kinsey, who operated a grain elevator on the site. The existing building was demolished to make way for the new Little Crow factory. The new plant was constructed by local contractor Merle "Brick" Hodges, who built many prominent buildings in Warsaw between 1913 and 1936, including the Dalton foundry buildings, the Hugro Plant on North Detroit Street, the Braude-Piece Furniture Factory, the Center Ward School, and the old Winona Power Plant. The plant was completed and ready for operation by September 1924.

Little Crow's new modern factory was equipped with fully automatic weighing, blending, and packing machinery that could produce 60 packages a minute. With the increased production capacity, the company began distributing its products across the country to New England, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. In 1927, a three-story masonry addition was constructed at the south end of the factory with additional storage and packing facilities to meet demand. Based on the design and exterior detailing, it is likely that Maish drew up the plans for this addition and that Hodges Construction served as the builder.

Despite the onset of the Great Depression, Little Crow continued to increase sales and expand its line of products. In response to the economic downturn, the company introduced a lower-price pancake mix under the brand name Owl Pancake Flour in 1931. Production of this line continued until 1942. The 1930s also saw the introduction of Little Crow's most successful and well-known brands-Coco-Wheats and Miracle Maize. Sales of pancake flour, the company's most popular product, began to dwindle rapidly as competition in the market grew. In 1930, Wilbur Maish's son, Clarence, developed a chocolate-flavored hot cereal that he named Little Crow Cocoa Coated Whole Wheat Cereal. In 1932, Little Crow introduced the new cereal under the trade name Coco-Wheats. Although the product initially failed to sell, an aggressive radio marketing campaign made Coco-Wheats the company's best-selling product.

Wilbur Maish Sr. died on February 12^th, 1938 of a heart attack. His son, Clarence Maish, took over the business. The following year, the company reintroduced its Johnny Cake Flour blend under a new name, Miracle Maize. Under Clarence's leadership and under the leadership of his sons, Robert Maish and Bruce Maish, Little Crow solidified its reputation as a nationwide food processing company during the 1950s and 1960s. By 1967, the company employed thirty-five people and packaged over five million pounds of wheat farina, four million pounds of wheat flour, and half a million pounds of corn meal, much of it purchased locally in the form of Little Crow products. Miracle Maize corn muffin mix, Gold Mix pancake flour, Coco-Wheats, and Frying Magic, a breading mix, were sold by over 250,000 retailers across the country.

The company's success in the post-war period spurred subsequent building campaigns on the Little Crow factory site. Two office buildings were constructed on the west side of the plant that are estimated to date from the late 1950s and the late 1960s. The one-story office building near the center of the factory's north block appears in a 1964 Sanborn map, and based on similar buildings constructed in Warsaw at the time, could date from the mid-1950s or early 1960s. The slightly larger one-story building at the northwest corner of the lot appears in a 1978 photograph of the complex, but based on its architecture appears to date from the mid-to-late 1960s or early 1970s.

In the mid-1970s, Little Crow expanded its product lines again to include Little Crow Popcorn Oil and Hip-O-Lite Marshmallow Creme. In addition, the company also contracted with several fast food chains to produce "customized formulating and packaging of coating mixes and pancake mixes." At this time, Little Crow expanded its floor space again by constructing a rear addition to the south block of the factory. The addition added 12,000 feet of storage and packaging space for the new lines.

In 1984, day-to-day operations of the Little Crow Milling Company passed to the fourth generation of the Maish family, Robert Maish's daughter, Kim Fuller and her husband, Denny. Although the Fullers introduced FastShake Pancake Mixes (pancake mix packed in its own mixing and measuring container) and Instant Coco Wheats in the late 1980s, these two products were slight variations on two of the company's existing products. No new product was developed by the company after the late 1980s. The large equipment enclosures on the roof of the factory's one-story north block and four-story center block, constructed in the mid-1908s and the early 2000s during the Fuller's ownership, were removed as part of the 2016-2017 rehabilitation. The 1977 metal clad addition on the south elevation of the south block was also removed during the 2016-2017 rehabilitation.

The company remained in operation at its Warsaw factory until 2012, when Little Crow sold all of its assets except the factory building to Minneapolis-based MOM Brands and the Gilster-Mary Lee Corporation. The factory property was donated to the Kosciusko County Community Foundation in December 2012, which put the property up for sale in 2013. The property was purchased by the Commonwealth Development Corporation in the mid-2010s and rehabilitated as affordable senior housing.

The Little Crow Milling Company is one of the most intact manufacturing complexes to survive in Warsaw from the early- to mid-20^th Century. All of the grain mills that were competitors of Little Crow in the early 20^th Century have been demolished, and very few other food processing facilities were established in Warsaw. The only major food processing plant that operated at the same time in Warsaw was the Litchfield Creamery Company. However, the company was not a locally-owned business but a branch of a larger firm based in Litchfield, Illinois. In 1936, Litchfield established a Warsaw branch that produced "Milnot," a canned milk product. In 1946, the company constructed a new million-dollar plant on the southwest corner of Durbin Street and Argonne Road, which it occupied as the Milnot Company until the plant (which is still extant) closed in 1977.

Building Description

The Little Crow Milling Company Factory (hereafter referred to as the "Little Crow Factory") is located at 201 South Detroit Street just east of the center of downtown Warsaw, Indiana. It is sited on the southeast corner of South Detroit Street and East Market Street. The building is surrounded primarily by paved parking lots, with scattered 20th-century commercial development to the west and south, and a pocket of residential development to the northeast. The lot is bounded on the south by the former Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad (the first railroad to come through the county) and on the east by a spur the CCC & St. Louis Railway.

The Little Crow Factory is a one-, three-, and - four-story masonry factory building built in several stages throughout the company's long occupancy of the site. The original masonry mill and warehouse on the north end of the parcel was completed in 1924. Four years later, the company constructed a three-story masonry packing and shipping room on the south end of the original building. These two structures form the main components of the factory; for the purposes of this report, the 1924 building will be referred to as the "north block" and the 1927 building will be referred to as the "south block." In the late 1950s, the company constructed a one-story limestone-clad office building near the center of the west elevation of the north block. The offices were expanded in the late-1960s with a one-story limestone-clad addition on a raised basement, located at the northwest corner of the complex.

A one-story, metal-clad warehouse addition was constructed along the south elevation of the south block around 1977. Between the mid-1980s and 2001, several unfenestrated, utilitarian equipment enclosures were constructed on the roof of the factory's north block. Both the warehouse and the equipment enclosures have since been dismantled and removed.

The building's main entrance is located on the west elevation of the c. 1950s office addition, facing South Detroit Street. Secondary pedestrian entrances are located along all of the elevations. Former loading entrances, concentrated on the south and east elevations fronting the railroad, have been enclosed with glazing or converted to pedestrian entrances.

The building served as the headquarters and primary manufacturing facility for the Little Crow Milling Company, a nationally-known manufacturer of specialty flours, baking mixes, and cereals from 1924 until 2012 when the factory closed. The company's core product development in the factory occurred under the leadership of company founder Wilbur Maish Sr. and his son, Clarence Maish, between 1924 and 1984, and the last substantial addition to the factory that reflected a significant expansion of the company's product lines was completed in 1977.

The Little Crow Milling Company sold its assets, except for the factory building, to Minneapolis-based MOM Brands and the Gilseter-Mary Lee Corporation in 2012. The factory property was donated to the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, which put the property up for sale in 2013. The property was purchased by the Commonwealth Development Corporation, and the factory building underwent a renovation completed in 2017 for new use as affordable senior housing.

As of 2018, Little Crow Factory operates as an affordable senior housing facility and retains its significant interior and exterior features.

The Little Crow Factory is located approximately five blocks east and two blocks south of the Kosciusko County courthouse, the historic center of downtown Warsaw. The building is set along the lot lines at the north, south and east elevations. The office additions on the west side of the building are slightly set back and surrounded by small landscaped lawns. Parking lots, located on the east and south portions of the property, were re-paved as part of the 2016-2017 rehabilitation. Across Market Street to the north is a paved parking lot. Across Detroit Street to the west is a 1920s masonry commercial building; beyond this is a mixture of low-rise commercial buildings and parking lots. South of the building is a mixture of industrial and residential buildings. To the east of the building is a large one-story strip shopping mall.

The Little Crow Factory is roughly rectangular in overall shape and footprint. The north and south blocks, constructed in the 1920s, feature exterior walls of red brick laid in common bond, regularly fenestrated with multi-light replacement aluminum sash windows. The post-World War II office additions on the west side of the building are both clad in limestone with pebble-dash panels between the windows openings. The roofs on all sections of the building are flat.

North Block (1924)

The north block of the building is primarily one-story warehouse space. At the center of the west elevation is a four-story former blending mill, four bays long by three bays wide. The north elevation of the north block is six bays long and set on a concrete water table, with regularly fenestrated aluminum sash windows on concrete sills. A non-original pedestrian entrance is located near the west end of the elevation, accessed by a set of wood steps.

The east elevation of the north block is twelve bays long and similar in materials and details to the north elevation. The elevation is regularly fenestrated primarily with 10-light aluminum sash windows on concrete sills. Four former loading dock entrances are evenly spaced along the wall and set above the concrete water table. Three of these openings have been infilled with aluminum panels and glazing. The fourth had been converted into a pedestrian entrance, accessed by concrete steps.

The first story of the west elevation is primarily obscured by the post-World War II office additions. South of the c. 1950s office, the first story of the north block houses multi-light sash windows and a single pedestrian entrance accessed by a concrete path. At the south end of the west elevation, a one-story brick former loading dock extends west to a curb cut. The openings of the loading dock have been infilled with aluminum panels and glazing. The four-story blending mill on the west side of the north block is regularly fenestrated with 15-light aluminum sash windows.

All the building's original windows have been replaced with new aluminum sash that match the historic windows in size, appearance, and profile.

The roof of the north block is flat. A brick chimney stack is located on the northeast corner of the former blending mill.

South Block (1927)

The south block is a three-story rectangular masonry structure five bays long and nine bays wide, very similar in materials and detailing to the four-story blending mill on the north block. All elevations of the structure are regularly fenestrated with 15-light aluminum sash replacement windows on concrete sills that match the historic windows in size, appearance and profile. The removal of the 1977 metal-clad addition on the south elevation during the 2016-2017 rehabilitation allowed for the restoration of the original 1927 window openings on that elevation and the creation of an internal court that provides light and ventilation to the new residential units.

The east elevation features three pedestrian entrances. A non-original single-door entrance is located on the south end of the elevation, accessed by concrete steps. Two non-original single-door entrances are located on the north end of the elevation, which are both located along a raised concrete platform accessed by several steps. The northern-most of these doors also features a metal canopy above the entryway.

The north elevation provides a pedestrian entrance, located adjacent to the former loading docks of the north block. The entrance features a non-original metal door with single-light transom and sidelight.

The roof of the south block is flat. A brick penthouse extends near the center of the north wall of the south block.

Post-War Office Additions (circa 1958 and circa 1969)

Two office additions were constructed on the west side of the Little Crow Factory in the late 1950s and late 1960s, replacing the small one-story brick office structure that was part of the original 1924 building. The older of these two additions is a one-story, roughly L-shaped structure of concrete block construction with a flat roof and deep overhanging eaves. The two exposed elevations of this structure are clad with limestone below the window openings. The large fixed rectangular aluminum windows are separated by textured "pebble-dash" panels framed in aluminum on the west elevation. The main entrance into the building is at the north end of the west elevation of the older addition, an aluminum and glass door with sidelight that is recessed. The outer face of the projecting eaves is clad in aluminum; the undersides of the eaves are stained wood paneling.

The later office addition, located at the northwest corner of the factory site, is one story on a raised basement, and is significantly taller than the c. 1958 office addition. The structure is clad in limestone and fenestrated on the north and west elevations with narrow vertical fixed windows separated by textured "pebble-dash" panels. On the west elevation, a grouping of six such windows is set on a continuous concrete sill. On the north elevation, two groups of two windows are spaced along the facade. The north elevation also features two sets of three-light aluminum basement windows set on concrete sills. A simple pedestrian entrance at the east end of the north elevation houses a metal panel door.

Typical of early 20th-century industrial buildings, the Little Crow Factory historically had a largely open interior with little ornamentation prior to its reconfiguration in the 2016-2017 rehabilitation. The north block features an exposed wood post-and-beam structure and exposed painted interior masonry walls. A large north-south running firewall with metal fire doors divides the north block into a loading area facing east and a warehouse area to the west. The upper floors of the blending mill section of the north feature exposed wood structure, masonry walls, and wood floors. The south block features exposed metal posts and beams and exposed masonry walls with concrete and hardwood flooring.

The Little Crow Factory interior retains its original spatial layout and was converted to affordable senior housing in 2016-2017, with 42 new one- and two-bedroom units being added to the interior spaces. The building's basement level, which historically housed mechanical and storage spaces, consists primarily of storage and mechanical space with one two-bedroom unit located at the northwest corner. The first through fourth floors consist of one-and two-bedroom units. The units feature drywall partitions, open kitchens, and enclosed bedrooms and bathrooms. The original concrete and wood floors, as well as the masonry perimeter walls have been cleaned, repaired, and remain exposed. New mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection equipment has been installed and have been left exposed in keeping with the building's industrial history.

The interior of the post-World War II office additions retain their overall original spatial layout and a metal stair with wood handrails connects the two buildings. The 1958 building's divided into two one-bedroom units featuring drywall partitions, open kitchens, and enclosed bedrooms and bathrooms. Original built-in filing cabinets line one wall of the 1958 building. The 1969 office building features a two-bedroom unit at the basement level and two one-bedroom units at the first-floor level.