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was a high-demand crop, and nearly one thousand flour mills were in operation throughout
Minnesota. Thomas began constructing a wooden dam on the river in the spring of 1888, although the dam was prone to leakage and had to be shored up with sandbags, dirt, gravel, and other materials. The mill
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The mill opened in
October 1889 and was designed to produce 60 to 75 barrels of flour per day. It was very successful during its initial several years of operation, and in 1895 Thomas built an addition to grind
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A local resident and activist, Geneva Tweten, led a campaign to save the mill as a symbol of the rural life. Otter Tail County purchased the site in 1965, and it was listed on the
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As technology progressed in the early 1900s, though, power from electricity, gasoline, or steam became more efficient for powering mills.
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area for milling. Thomas sold the mill in 1919, and after another change of ownership in 1928, the mill closed for good in 1939.
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179:. The mill was built in 1888–1889 by William E. Thomas, a local entrepreneur who owned a flour and feed business in
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192:. He was able to keep the entire plan within his head and did not even have to mark out the lumber he was cutting.
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Phelps Mill, County
Highway 45, North confluence Lion Lake & Ottertail River, Underwood, Otter Tail County, MN
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in 1975. The mill is part of the Phelps Mill
Historic District, which also includes the general store and an
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Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the
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University and college buildings listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
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transportation also made it more cost-effective to transport the grain to the
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itself was built by Royal Powers, who built and framed the mill without using
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Grinding mills on the
National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota
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List of jails and prisons on the
National Register of Historic Places
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National
Register of Historic Places in Otter Tail County, Minnesota
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also was established in the area and is still in operation.
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106:46.38056°N 95.82056°W
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165:Phelps Mill
109: /
85:Coordinates
27:Phelps Mill
796:Categories
585:Washington
505:New Mexico
500:New Jersey
375:California
236:Italianate
190:blueprints
169:flour mill
135:ID84001640
97:95°49′14″W
94:46°22′50″N
595:Wisconsin
560:Tennessee
465:Minnesota
440:Louisiana
198:buckwheat
751:Category
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221:Railroad
149:75002145
697:Related
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185:wheat
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200:and
125:1889
65:The
202:rye
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144:No.
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