Abandoned grain elevator in South Dakota

Herrick Grain Elevator, Herrick South Dakota

Date added: August 18, 2022 Categories: South Dakota Grain Elevator

The Herrick Elevator is located in Herrick, Gregory County South Dakota. For over seventy years, it served the local farmers as a principal buying and transportation station for their grain crops. As a rural elevator, it was the initial link in the network of moving raw grains from producer to large processing and marketing centers. The elevator was constructed in 1907 by Caspary and Simons.

The first grain buying centers in South Dakota were simple flat roof buildings which were used for storage and distribution of sacked grain. Railroad companies found it much easier to handle bulk grain and generally insisted on receiving shipments from facilities where grain could be elevated into bins and from there, poured through spouts into railroad cars. During the last half of the 19^th century, the influence of railroads in the west caused the construction of many grain elevators alongside the expanding railroad infrastructure. Two types of elevators emerged during this period, the terminal elevator and the rural elevator. The rural elevator received grain in wagon or trucks and shipped it to the terminal elevators via railroads.

The rural elevator, such as the Herrick Elevator, dominated the Dakota grain market. Local elevators permitted safe storage of the local grain harvest until prices rose or until sufficient quantities were collected to permit cost effective rail shipment. Most rural elevators were operated by independent proprietors, farmers cooperatives or large conglomerates.

Until the mid-20^th century, wood was the favored building material for rural elevators. The two popular types of construction were cribbed and balloon frame in dimensional lumber. The Herrick elevator and scale house are constructed in the cribbed technique. The popular siding material of the 19^th century was wood clapboards but by the 20^th century most elevators were concerned with fireproofing and used metal siding. The Herrick elevator used both wood clapboards and metal siding.

The Herrick Elevator in Gregory County is an excellent representative example of early 20^th century grain elevators. Surviving in good condition, it illustrates cribbed construction. In addition it contains fixtures and equipment useful to elevator operations.

The Herrick Elevator was constructed in 1907 by Fred Caspary and Louis Simons who were brothers-in-law. Fred Caspary owned real estate, lumber yards and elevators in Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, and California. He did not live in Herrick very long, although he was the president of the Farmer's State Bank, built by Caspary and Simons Lumber Company in 1906. The Lumber Company was sold in 1917. Louis farmed in the Herrick vicinity after the Lumber Company was sold through 1925. It operated as an elevator until the late 1980's.

Due to twentieth century changes in agricultural practices, especially mechanization and increased farm size, the need for numerous shipping points such as the Herrick Elevator became unnecessary. The elevator stopped functioning as an elevator in the late 1980,s when it was purchased by a private individual to serve as his grain storage facility. It no longer functions in its intended capacity. The elevator continues to stand on the prairie as a reminder of agribusiness and the economic lifeline that railroads provided to small farming communities.

Building Description

Rising prominently on the prairie landscape just west of the Missouri River in Gregory County is the Herrick Elevator. The grain elevator is crib constructed with standard wood material. Situated along the Chicago and Northwestern rail line, the elevator once served farmers as a buying and transportation station for their grain crops.

The grain elevator has a one story gable roof addition on the east elevation, a scale house on the north elevation and a house to the north of the scale house. The grain elevator has a gable monitor roof. The entire structure has a concrete foundation and has wood siding.

The south elevation of the grain elevator once had a platform and currently has a wide delivery opening that has been reduced to a pedestrian door on the first floor. Two thirds up the south elevation are two historic signs. The siding in the gable end is metal. The south elevation of the one story roof addition to the east has no openings. This addition, made in the 1960's, has a metal roof and metal siding.

The east elevation of the one story addition has a large door for equipment. The east elevation of the grain elevator has a historic sign under the gable eave. The monitor portion of the roof has a one-over-one double hung window.

On the north elevation, a one story house was added to the grain elevator. The north elevation of the gable house has a one-over-one double hung window at the northeast corner. The north elevation of the grain elevator has a boarded window above the first floor.

The west elevation of the grain elevator has no openings on the main portion of the structure. Under the gable eave is a historic sign. In the monitor is a one-over-one double hung window. On the north of the elevator is a one story shed roof scale house. There is a square vent in the eave. The opening extends through the entire scale house. To the north of the scale house is the gable roof house. On the north elevation (gable end) is a central entry flanked on either side by a six pane fixed window.

The interior of the grain elevator has six grain bins, a conveyor system to deliver grain to the bins and a chute system. Also intact on the interior is the selector for the delivery of the grains to a particular chute. Each of these systems is encased in historic wood paneling. A ladder ascends to the grain bins and to the top of the elevator. The interior walls are cribbed. The lumber was laid flat, one on top of the other, with the ends spiked together; the ends overlapped and dovetailed together.

The interior of the scale house features a drive through with the scale mechanism in the floor. Located along the side of the scale is the weights used for measuring the grain.

To the east of the grain elevator complex is an asphalt shingle gable roof office. The office has wood clapboards and a stone foundation. The north elevation has an entry door at the northeast corner with a small square, fixed pane window to the west of the door. The west elevation has a window opening. The south elevation has a one-over-one double hung window. The east elevation has a window opening that has been covered with wood paneling.

The hopper is a square wood hopper with a pyramidal wood roof.

To the south of the grain elevator complex is the Chicago and Northwestern railroad bed. The remaining ties are visible across the east and west driveways.