Then & Now: Grain Elevator – Frankfort

In 1842, the first grain elevator was constructed in Buffalo, New York, by retail merchant Joseph Dart. Dart’s invention consisted of a wooden structure that served as storage bins for grain.

Loading the grain into this structure was a steam-driven belt, which had buckets attached to it. As the belt with buckets was lowered into the hold of a ship, the buckets would scoop up the grain and hoist it up into the structure where it was dropped into tall bins.

This is where the term “elevator” originated because this is exactly what the process did. It elevated the grain from the ship and stored it in bins until it was lowered for transport or for milling purposes.

Soon the grain elevator system evolved and became an important part of Chicago’s growth in the 19th century. These grain elevators began to be constructed alongside the developing railroad systems.

As the railroads expanded throughout the Midwest, farmers were able to get their crops from the prairies to the marketplace more quickly and efficiently.

The grain elevator soon became part of a new supply chain of industrialized agriculture, which was made possible by the McCormick reaper and the standardized system of grading wheat introduced by the Chicago Board of Trade in 1857. This system allowed crops of similar quality from a variety of different farmers to be combined by grading for shipping, storage and trading.

These early elevators were often associated with the flour mills they served. The structures were usually timber-framed structures as were the mills themselves. It was not until the early decades of the 20th century that concrete grail elevators and silos, usually constructed in banks of two or more, began to appear.

The first grain bought in the Frankfort area was by Norman A. Carpenter, who bought for J. L. Hurd & Company of Detroit. Together they built the first grain elevator in 1856 near the Michigan Central Railroad tracks (known as the Old Plank Road Trail today).

Numerous times over the years, the wooden grain elevator caught fire, and in the 1940s, the entire structure was rebuilt using concrete. While the grain elevator operated until 1973, actual business began to diminish in the 1960s as the farm trade brought by the railroads began to decrease.

As part of a project to rejuvenate the downtown area, the old grain elevator was remodeled and converted into a specialty mall for shoppers. Currently, the property is privately owned but leased to the village in exchange for maintenance and improvements in the area.

The Grainery, one of Frankfort’s most distinctive landmarks, towers over Breidert Green, the town center and home to year-round community events sponsored by the Frankfort Historic Business Association, the village of Frankfort, the Frankfort Chamber of Commerce and the Frankfort Park District.