Downtown Kent, Ohio Landmark is
Vital Link in Food Chain
t was 1879 when two sons of Austin Williams—Scott T., a farmer, and Charles A., a student at Western Reserve College—decided to become entrepreneurs. Business ventures were always risky but they saw a need for a local grist mill and thought they could make a go of it.
They underestimated themselves. 132 years later, that business is still going strong.
By the roiling waters of the Cuyahoga, the Williams brothers established the first brick building in the complex, on the west side of N. Water Street in Kent. They dubbed the venture the “Peerless Roller Mill.” The interior was outfitted with equipment that, at the time, was state-of-the-art. The whole shebang cost the Williams brothers and their investors about $40,000.
It was mid-1881 before manufacturing actually got under way, and by the following year, a $5,000 addition was needed. At the outset, the new process being implemented enabled the production of 125 barrels of flour daily. But by 1882, the work force of 25 and the 16 sets of rollers brought daily capacity to 200 barrels. The increased capacity was needed; sales efforts had enlarged the market area to include most of the Eastern states plus Puerto Rico.
A rare early view of the Williams Bros. Mill, well before the landmark white elevators were built. This photo probably dates back to the late 1890s, when the business was still known as the Peerless Roller Mills. At far right ia a ramp where horse-drawn wagons could be pulled inside the mill for offloading.
By 1883, a “full roller” grinding system was initiated and the physical plant was again enlarged. A new Feed Department was added, measuring 73 x 96 feet and towering five stories high, providing 35,000 additional square feet of space. Karl Grismer’s History of Kent described it as utilizing the “E. P. Allis system, containing 16 full sets of Gray roller mills, three cleaning machines, 21 bolts, seven purifiers and aspirators, plus dusters, centrifugals, packers, etc.” The system was powered by a 100hp engine which got its steam from two 75hp boilers, the water being drawn up from the river. (This system remained basically the same until 1947, when it was replaced by a single motor.)
Thus equipped, employees were able to process between 250,000 and 300,000 bushels of wheat annually, as well as 150,000 bushels of corn. The mill provided a handy market for the corn grown by farmers in the surrounding area. The wheat was predominantly the soft, red Winter wheat grown in northeast Ohio. Buyers looked to Peerless for such products as cracker flour, cake flour, and pastry flour. Brand names included Celestial Meal, Perfection, Victor, Perfection Cake, and Kent Special Cake.
Today, the business continues to flourish, having adapted successfully to changes in the marketplace. In 1999, Star of the West Milling Co., based in Michigan, acquired the business. Whereas for many years, flour was shipped by train, these days most of it leaves Kent in long bulk trailers, and some in 100-lb. bags.
The physical plant is characterized by many features from the late 1880s, but more modern processing equipment is evident. The mill shudders, wide belts whirr, the separators shake, the elevators fill, and the bulk trailers maneuver on North Water Street. Ron Dawson, responsible for quality control and a bevy of other things, whips up test-batches of cookies using the ovens in his lab. And Red Michel knows that the buck stops at his desk.
Still more capacity was required, so the Williams boys looked to adjacent counties. They arranged for the use of another 14 elevators, scattered about, that could accommodate another 260,000 bushels of grain.
At one point during these boom years, the 200-foot-high landmark facility was grinding out 35 million pounds of wheat-bran by-products per year, and an astonishing 100 million pounds of flour.
Charles and Scott Williams dissolved their partnership during what were still the mill’s early years, but incorporated it as the Williams Brothers Co. in 1900. As the original partners retired or passed on, descendants assumed control of the operations. Dudley Williams, Charles’s son, headed the firm for many years. He died in 1986. Charles Williams II, a grandson of Charles Williams, served for a time as chairman and president. And Charles (“Pete”) Williams, a great-grandson of the co-founder, served as secretary-treasurer and is now retired.
Best of all, Pepperidge Farm, Joy (ice cream cones), H. J. Heinz, Archway, and other giants of food retailing continue to look to Kent, Ohio for the finest in “flour power.”
The landmark grain elevators under construction, in 1936.
