Ponca City Milling Company Elevator, Ponca City Oklahoma

History of Ponca City Milling Company Elevator

The Ponca City Milling Company Elevator was independently owned and operated by the locally prominent Donahoe family for most of its most productive years, the complex includes a single-story office/flour storage area, a six-story flour mill, and concrete grain elevator, and a large set of concrete, cylindrical grain storage bins. Together, this complex was a symbol of widespread agricultural prosperity in north-central Oklahoma during the early twentieth century. Its sale to International Milling Company in 1945, which closed the complex for good in 1959, reflected broader changes in American agribusiness, specifically the consolidation of food processing and distribution facilities among a handful of corporations. Though vacant today, the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator remains the largest and best-preserved example of a flour milling and grain storage operation in the community.

Located in southeastern Kay County, just south of the Kansas state line in north-central Oklahoma, Ponca City is situated in the heart of the Central Great Plains. With an average annual precipitation ranging between 35 and 39 inches and a growing season of just under 200 days a year, the Oklahoma Climatological Survey has noted that Kay County contains "some of the best agricultural land in Oklahoma." The Ponca City Milling Company Elevator, constructed in 1922 and in operation until 1959, stands as a prominent landmark to signify Ponca City's roots in commercial agriculture.

The vast prairies of Kay County had long been known for their agricultural potential, whether for cultivating grains or for grazing animals. Ponca City and Kay County were once part of the Cherokee Outlet, an area of land that the federal government guaranteed to the Cherokee Nation. The Outlet was home to other native Great Plains tribes as well, including the Tonkawa and the Ponca. These Native American groups were the first to utilize the area's agricultural potential, whether for growing food crops or, most notably, for grazing horses. By the late 1860s and early 1870s, Texans who were trailing herds of longhorn cattle northward to railroad depots recognized the value of grazing lands. Those who trailed cattle across the Cherokee Outlet often did so illegally, without adequate compensation to the tribes. In 1883, area ranchers formed the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association and, by 1889, leased much of the Outlet from the Cherokee Nation.

The commercial orientation of American agriculture spurred the rapid settlement of north-central Oklahoma and the establishment of Ponca City. The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association, for example, sought to keep the Cherokee Outlet open to livestock grazing and closed to homesteading, but such efforts ran counter to growing demands by homesteaders and politicians to open the Outlet to white settlers. Similarly, efforts by the Cherokee Nation to prevent the loss of the Outlet ran counter to racist perceptions that native peoples in Indian Territory were incapable of cultivating the landscape and bringing the region to its full commercial potential. In 1893, the federal government officially opened lands within the Outlet for homesteading and Ponca City, originally known as New Ponca, was officially incorporated in December of that year.

Popular stories of the Cherokee Outlet opening and other land runs in Oklahoma during the late nineteenth century typically celebrate idyllic, subsistence farmers who worked hard to claim and develop a 160-acre homestead that could satisfy the needs of an entire family. However, as historian Allan G. Bogue writes in a history of agriculture in the American West, such stories are largely false and such individuals "never existed." Rather, these land runs marked the origins of commercial agriculture in Oklahoma.

The opening of the territory sparked a steady increase in agricultural production in Oklahoma, especially in the cultivation and sale of winter wheat. In 1899, Oklahoma produced over twenty million bushels of wheat. By 1920, the opening of additional land to production, a steadily growing population, and improved technology and techniques enabled Oklahoma farmers to produce over fifty-five million bushels of wheat. This statistic was reflective of much larger trends in American agriculture during the first two decades of the twentieth century, which is sometimes referred to as "the golden age of agriculture." According to agricultural historian David B. Danbom, "gross farm income more than doubled, and the value of the average farm more than tripled" during this period. Such prosperity drew more people into the farming sector. It also provided farmers with the money necessary to participate in the market economy, whether by purchasing new goods or reinvesting in their farms by purchasing more land or new machinery.

Further undermining the idyllic narrative of a self-sufficient, pioneer farming family on the Oklahoma prairie was the significant presence of the railroad. In fact, railroads preceded homesteading in central and western Oklahoma. For example, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad had completed two lines through Oklahoma by 1887, two years before the first major land run. The established presence of the railroad influenced settlement patterns, since the location of a farm or a town often depended upon regular access to a railroad.

The early history of Ponca City is reflective of this trend. The town's founders, specifically Burton S. Barnes, recognized that the town's economic potential was limited without access to the railroad. Originally, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad located a station at the town of Cross, one mile away from the Ponca City townsite. Barnes and other residents attempted to convince the railroad to add a stop at Ponca City, but their efforts were initially unsuccessful. It was not until city leaders convinced the station agent in Cross to move to Ponca City that the town secured regular railroad access. According to Paula Carmack Denson, the first train arrived in Ponca City on September 22^nd, 1894. The train's arrival ensured that Ponca City would be able to communicate with the outside world. More importantly, the railroad provided an avenue to store, transport, and market goods.

Ponca City's newfound status as a railroad hub enabled the town to become a commercial center and the principal city of Kay County and north-central Oklahoma. What ultimately became known as the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator became a primary intermediary between local Oklahoma farmers and a national marketplace.

According to a Ponca City News article, three residents began a mill operation in the approximate location of the current Ponca City Milling Company Elevator shortly after the run of 1893. The mill consisted of a "small wooden shanty," operated by five employees with equipment shipped from Ohio. The mill could produce approximately 100 barrels of flour per day.

The earliest recorded land transaction at the site dates to March 18^th, 1895, when Burton Barnes and J. H. Dalton received a warranty deed from the Ponca Land and Improvement Company for lots 11-20 of Block 7 of the Lynchville subdivision. A deed record filed on June 29^th, 1895, records the creation of the Ponca City Milling Company as a "corporation organized and incorporated under the laws of Oklahoma Territory." The milling company changed hands frequently until ownership stabilized under the Donahoe family in 1922.

The Donahoe family originally came from Wisconsin and went on to play a significant role in Ponca City's commercial future. It was a large family, with six boys and at least two girls. Five of the brothers and two sisters participated in the 1893 land run that contributed to Ponca City's creation. One of the siblings, Daniel J. Donahoe, practiced law in Perry and in Ponca City shortly thereafter, but soon became involved in the grain trade with his brothers, Edward L. (E. L.) and John J. (J. J.) Donahoe. Under the leadership of the Donahoe's, the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator was built and entered its era of commercial significance.

For Daniel J. Donahoe, ownership of the mill represented just one facet of a fortune based upon agribusiness and real estate. In addition to his economic endeavors, Donahoe was a pivotal commercial figure in the community, helping form the Commercial Club (later the Chamber of Commerce), the Retailers Credit Association, the Rotary Club, the Security Bank, and the Ponca City Building and Loan Association. Donahoe served on the City Council and the Library Board, and he was instrumental in securing Ponca City as a stop and a depot for the Rock Island Railroad. His residence is at 302 S. 7^th Street in Ponca City.

The Donahoe's secured ownership of the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator at a point in American history when more people were entering agriculture as farmers or as dealers. The need to increase the sorting and storage capacity for wheat in Oklahoma became more pronounced by the late 1910s and early 1920s, specifically as American farmers worked to meet increased international demands for grain during World War I. In 1919, Oklahoma produced a record yield of 66 million bushels of wheat, which far exceeded the state's 17.5 million bushel storage capacity. Such a dramatic increase in agricultural production could create an oversupply of wheat for consumers and a sharp decline in prices for farmers unless they could store their crops for extended periods after the harvest. This situation sparked a significant expansion in the construction and modernization of grain elevators across northern and western Oklahoma.

A historic photograph published in the Ponca City News indicates that the earliest mill at the current site of the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator was a three-story, wood building. However, the current Ponca City Milling Company Elevator, under the oversight of the Donahoe family, was modern in every aspect and was designed to store and process grain produced by area farmers for profit. The six-story, brick-clad flour mill was built in 1922 and, according to the Ponca City News, it is an example of a "sunlight mill" built to have "the maximum number of windows so sunlight reached practically every nook and corner." It was designed by the architectural firm of Harner and Wyatt of Kansas City and was built by Chas. A. Dunning Construction Company of Oklahoma City, a prominent commercial construction company in the state. The milling equipment came from Barnard and Leas Mill Machinery of Moline, Illinois, one of the most prominent equipment providers of the era.

Flour dust was a significant design consideration. Across the country, numerous mills had experienced fires and explosions because, as Theodore Hazen notes, flour dust was "more explosive than gun powder and 35 times more explosive than coal dust." To account for the potential hazard of fire or explosion in their mill, the Donahoe's installed an elaborate air purification system that removed flour dust from the mill cyclically.

The site underwent a second wave of construction between 1928 and 1930, completing the current configuration of the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator. The single-story, brick-clad office and storage warehouse, designed by Harner and Wyatt of Kansas City and constructed by George M. Robertson Construction of Lincoln, Nebraska, was built directly upon the original mill site and even incorporated the mill's original power plant into the floorplan. A basement in the office building housed the company's laboratory. The 100-foot-tall concrete grain elevator and adjacent, cylindrical concrete storage bins were completed by 1930. Overall, the flour mill, grain elevator/storage bins, and the office building/warehouse cost approximately $250,000 to build and furnish.

For much of its history, the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator was an independent, processing grain elevator. The elevator and flour mill, which was the centerpiece of the Ponca City Milling Company, was owned locally by the Donahoe family. It stored and processed grain acquired from seven country elevators situated in surrounding towns, including Kaw City, Burbank, and Ralston. According to the Ponca City News, farmers also took their grain directly to the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator, lining up for blocks to wait their turn to unload at the facility. In addition to winter wheat, the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator processed corn and other feed for livestock. At peak capacity, the mill produced 500 barrels of flour per day and up to 20 tons of corn and other types of livestock feed daily. Flour and feed produced by the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator was sold across the country, primarily in the southern and southwestern United States.

The sufficient scale and commercial success of the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator during the 1920s and 1930s was reflective of the overall significance of milling to Oklahoma's economy. According to W. David Baird, milling was the third-largest manufacturing industry in Oklahoma by the end of the 1930s, which is a significant statistic given the state's (and Ponca City's) association with the oil and gas industry. Indeed, by 1937, 45 flour mills operated in the state of Oklahoma with a combined daily capacity of 23,000 barrels of flour.

The presence and profitability of flour mills contributed to the perception that Oklahoma was rapidly becoming a modern and innovative state. In 1931, for example, the Oklahoman wrote that Ponca City's flour mill was "said to be one of the most modern mills in the United States," and the lights that sat atop the 100-foot-tall grain elevator helped illuminate the downtown area. Diesel-powered McIntosh-Seymore engines powered the entire mill. In addition to milling, the on-site laboratory tested flour for moisture content and other qualities.

Yet, similar to the oil industry, which produced and shipped much of Oklahoma's petroleum elsewhere, flour milling reinforced the extractive nature of the state economy. National and international demands for flour contributed to an overwhelming reliance on the production of a cash crop, winter wheat, among farmers in northern and western Oklahoma. This expansion in wheat cultivation by the 1920s contributed to disastrous consequences in the 1930s, including the Dust Bowl and a significant decrease in prices for wheat and flour during the Great Depression. In addition, the majority of wheat that the Oklahoma farmers produced and the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator processed was consumed outside of the state. This made wheat producers, as well as the independent milling companies upon which they relied, particularly vulnerable to changing consumer tastes, the consolidation of the food processing industry, and the rise of modern agribusiness following World War II.

The Ponca City Milling Company Elevator was not immune to these changes. Daniel J. Donahoe, and the Donahoe family in general, had been a force of stability and prosperity for the Ponca City Milling Company since the construction of the flour mill in 1922. In February 1945, though, the family sold the company to International Milling Company, and Daniel J. Donahoe passed away a year and a half later, in September 1946, at the age of 81. It was during this time that the iconic "Robin Hood FLOUR" sign was painted on the east and west elevations of the cylindrical concrete storage bins.

Upon its acquisition by International Milling, the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator ceased as an independent grain elevator and flour mill. International Milling already processed flour at twenty-two locations in the United States and Canada by the time it expanded into Ponca City, so it quickly integrated the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator into its transnational production activities. Most notably, the elevator no longer produced livestock feed for area farmers. Instead, it expanded flour production to 240,000 pounds per day. In 1959, International Milling ceased operations at the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator, removed the equipment at the site, and transferred it to other facilities.

Ponca City Milling Company Elevator Property Description

Located just east of the BNSF railroad tracks near downtown Ponca City, the one building and two structures comprising the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator dominate the skyline. The property served as an important intermediary between local farmers and the agricultural marketplace. First documented on the site in 1894, the buildings and structures associated with the mill were in a nearly constant state of change until 1927 when all of the buildings and structures present today were in place. The single-story office building/storage warehouse is attached to a six-story-tall flour mill. Both are brick-clad and designed in the Neo-Classical Revival style. Integrated into the southeast corner of the joining of the office building/warehouse and the first story of the flour mill is a one-story, brick-clad power plant. The site was finished between 1927 and 1930 with the construction (including repairs from a fire) of a concrete grain elevator, complete with a headhouse and side grain dumps, and a complex of twenty-two cylindrical concrete grain storage bins. The upper third of these bins have a ghost sign that reads, "Robin Hood FLOUR". The mill closed in 1959 and has changed ownership multiple times since. The site is currently vacant.

The Ponca City Milling Company Elevator is positioned north of the Santa Fe Depot and southeast of Downtown Ponca City. It is a notable landmark that towers above surrounding buildings and structures. Railroad tracks run parallel to the site and are located to the immediate west. Commercial properties are located to the north. Business and light industrial properties are situated both to the east and to the south. Overall, the site is surrounded by moderately dense commercial development. The site covers a series of predominantly level lots with little vegetation in the vicinity.

The Ponca City Milling Company Elevator complex is comprised of one building and two structures. Configured in the shape of an "L," the building includes a one-story (with basement) office area with a front entrance facing West Central Avenue and a six-story-tall flour mill adjacent to the railroad tracks. The one-story office area is flat-roofed, with a concrete post and beam structure that is visible on the exterior. The space between the concrete columns and beams is infilled with red brick. Similarly, the six-story-tall flour mill is flat-roofed with a concrete post and beam structure that is visible on the exterior. The space between the concrete columns and beams is infilled with red brick. The west side of the office area and the east side of the mill are situated next to each other with an abutting wall. South and east, abutting both the office wing and the six-story mill is the one- and two-story engine room that powers the mill, elevators, offices, and warehouse.

Two structures-a concrete grain elevator and a collection of cylindrical, concrete grain storage bins-are located to the immediate south of the flour mill. The concrete grain elevator is three-to-four stories taller than the flour mill. The structure is attached to the northernmost set of concrete, cylindrical storage bins (four, arranged in a square) and topped with a rectangular, concrete elevator headhouse. Another collection of concrete, cylindrical grain storage bins is located to the south of the grain elevator. This collection comprises two rows of storage bins (eleven in each row, arranged in a rectangle). Another headhouse is situated atop these storage bins and connects the structure to the grain elevator.

The north-facing facade of the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator features the north elevation of the one-story (with basement) office wing with the primary entrance to the complex and the north elevation of the six-story flour mill. The one-story section is brick-clad and designed in the Neo-Classical Revival style. It has cast stone parapet caps topping a brick parapet. Below the parapet is a concrete band with a protruding top and a curved underside as the protrusion recedes back to the face of the band below. The band is the top beam of the structure and wraps around the entire one-story building, except for the west side where the building abuts the mill and the south side at the intersection with the two-story engineering room.

There are seven concrete columns under the beam. The wall area between the columns and beam is infilled with red brick. The single story is elevated from the grade by about four feet.

There are seven windows on the one-story facade and each window has a cast stone sill. The windows are distributed across the one-story facade. A pair of windows in the easternmost bay share a stone sill. The bay to the immediate west has a window and a door with a transom. Each of the next four bays have a singular, short, elevated window with the window heads just under the concrete beam. The fourth bay from the east also has a pair of doors centered on the bay. The westernmost bay has a pair of metal-framed glass doors centered on the bay.

Comparing the Sanborn maps with the appearance of the facade, the office of the Ponca City Milling Company comprised the two easternmost bays of the single-story section. The remaining bays were used for flour storage. The basement windows, located on the easternmost face of the facade, are boarded. The company used the basement as a laboratory to test flour quality.

The north-facing part of the six-story flour mill comprises the westernmost portion of the facade. It is two bays wide. The concrete structure is visible on the building face, including the beams demarcating each floor and the columns that support the floors. The wall area between the columns and beams is infilled with red brick. The first floor is elevated above the grade by about four feet.

The first story has two door openings. The eastern bay door opening is centered on the bay and covered by a metal panel. The western bay door opening is positioned far to the west side and is also metal-covered. The top of each window on floors two through six is positioned directly under the ceiling beam for that story. Each window is centered on the bay in which it resides. Each bay has one window with a cast stone sill. The windows on stories four, five, and six are steel-framed, multi-light units. The windows on stories five and six are four panes tall by five panes wide. The fourth-story windows are five panes tall by five panes wide. The second and third story windows are boarded.

A concrete belt protrudes from atop the second, fifth, and sixth-story beams. The protrusion at the sixth floor is wider than the other two floors. The protrusion would meet the definition of a simple ogee cornice. Above the sixth-story beam is a brick parapet with a cast stone cap. The concrete grain bins and head houses associated with the grain elevator are visible above the office/storage area and the flour mill.

The west-facing elevation of the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator could be considered the primary view of the building from the vantage point of the railroad tracks. This elevation comprises the west-side elevation of the six-story flour mill, the west-side elevation of the tall concrete grain elevator, and the west-side elevation of the southernmost collection of grain storage bins, which angle to the east away from the railroad tracks.

The west elevation of the flour mill matches the character of the facade. There are five bays of red brick infill framed by the visible columns and beams of the mill's structure. Each bay has a window centered on the bay and set at the same height, just under the concrete beam above, as the facade. Each window has a cast stone sill. The windows on stories four, five, and six are cold-rolled, steel-framed, multi-light units. The windows on stories five and six are four panes tall by five panes wide. The fourth-story windows are five panes tall by five panes wide. The second and third-story windows are boarded, except one exposed window for each of the two stories. The third-story window is five panes wide by five panes tall. The second-story window is five panes wide by four panes tall.

As with the facade, a concrete belt protrudes from atop the second, fifth, and sixth-story beams of the flour mill. The cornice at the sixth floor is wider than the belt course of other two floors. Above the sixth-story beam is a brick parapet with a cast stone cap.

The first story of the flour mill has two loading dock doors: one in the second bay from the north and the other in the southernmost bay. Both doors are centered on the bay. The other three bays on the first story have a short window centered on the bay and set at the same relative height as the other windows on the elevation. These windows are boarded.

South of the six-story flour mill are the characteristic tall grain bins and grain elevator. The grain bins and elevator are concrete with flat roofs. The northernmost set of grain bins is attached to the flour mill at the first two floors. There is about a ten-foot gap between the mill and the bins at the upper levels. The north set of grain bins is attached to the grain elevator for nearly the entire height of the structure. The grain elevator has a window and a loading garage door under a flat metal canopy.

A larger collection of eleven rounded and flat sections of grain bins is situated on the south end of the elevation. This collection of bins angles slightly to the east, away from the railroad tracks. The upper third of the bins have a ghost sign reading: "Robin Hood FLOUR."

The grain elevator is attached to the south bins at the ground level. At the top level, a rectangular headhouse bridges the nearly thirty-foot-wide gap between the grain elevator and the south bins. This rectangular, one-story-tall, flat-roofed headhouse runs continuously from the north to the south ends of the bins. At the two ends of the bins that are closest to the grain elevator, the headhouse is two stories tall. The headhouse directly above the grain elevator is also two stories tall.

The south elevation of the Ponca City Milling Company Elevator comprises a double-wide set of concrete, cylindrical grain storage bins. A small shed is attached to the bottom of the bins.

Set back toward the north for the full depth of the grain bins is the south (back) elevation of the two-story engine room, which abuts the west elevation of the brick and concrete mill. West of the two-story engine room is the one-story part of the engine room. The one- and two-story parts of the engine room conceal portions of the westernmost two bays of the one-story office wing to the north. Both stories of the engine room are flat-roofed and clad in red brick without any other ornamentation except the cast stone parapet cap. The one-story engine room is shorter than the one-story office wing. Therefore, a portion of the two westernmost bays of the office wing are visible behind it. The south elevation of the two-story engine room is completely covered by corrugated metal sheets on the first story and partially covered (in the center) on the second story. There is a garage door on the one-story part of the engine room.

The south elevation of the office wing that remains visible is similar to the facade but has some key deviations. Larger window openings are centered on the brick infill panels. The windows are boarded. The third bay from the east has a door near the top of the building with a wooden staircase to the ground. The remaining two bays to the west are those that are partially obscured by the abutting engine room. There are also partially visible and infilled openings at the basement level of the office/flour storage building, including one opening as wide as the window of the first-story in the east bay. There is a door opening and small window opening, both infilled, in the second bay from the east.

The east elevation of the one-story office and flour storage building has three bays. The two southern bays have similar-sized window openings as the south elevation. They are centered within the brick bay and boarded. The northern bay has a smaller boarded up window and a door to the north, also boarded. There are four boarded openings at the basement level visible because the first-story is about four feet off the ground, and there is no platform to screen them from view as on the facade.

The first story of the engine room's east elevation has three equidistant, boarded-over, window openings. The two southern openings are similarly sized. The northern bay has a smaller window opening, also boarded. Set back to the west, the second story of the engine room has three equidistant and boarded-over window openings matching the size of the first-story openings in the two southern bays. The second-story openings are vertically aligned with the first-story openings.

The east elevation of the six-story flour mill is a mirror image of the west elevation except for the lower two stories. The lower two stories of the mill are nearly completely concealed by the abutting office/flour storage building and two-story engine room.

The east elevation of the grain bins and the grain elevator is very similar to the west elevation. The scant openings are limited to the head house at the top and the grain elevator. The first story has a loading garage bay door under a flat, metal-clad protruding canopy. The southern grain bins angle toward the east, away from the train tracks. There are eleven rounded and flat sections of the grain bins, accommodating six bins on this side of the structure. The upper third of the bins have a ghost sign reading: "Robin Hood FLOUR."