Building Oregon

Thompson's Mills (Shedd, Oregon)

Title
Thompson's Mills (Shedd, Oregon)
LC Subject
Architecture, American Architecture--United States
Alternative
Boston Mills (Shedd, Oregon) Boston Roller Mills (Shedd, Oregon) Thompson's Fouring Mills (Shedd, Oregon) Thompson's Mills (Shedd, Oregon)
Photographer
Ross, Marion Dean
Description
National Register of Historic Places (Listed, 1979)
View
exterior
Provenance
Design Library, University of Oregon Libraries
Temporal
1890-1899
Work Type
architecture (object genre) built works views (visual works) exterior views historic sites historic buildings industrial buildings factories (structures) mills (buildings)
Latitude
44.459745
Longitude
-123.080985
Location
Shedd >> Linn County >> Oregon >> United States Linn County >> Oregon >> United States Oregon >> United States United States
Street Address
32655 Boston Mill Drive
Date
1885/1895
Identifier
pna_08306
Item Locator
mdr00391
Rights
In Copyright
Rights Holder
University of Oregon
Source
Gift of Wallace K. Huntington from the estate of Marion Dean Ross
Type
Image
Format
image/tiff
Set
Building Oregon
Primary Set
Building Oregon
Institution
University of Oregon
Note
Oregon Parks & Recredation Department’s official name for the site is Thompson’s Mills State Heritage Site. This document will refer to the site’s historic proper name using the plural, “Mills”. However in the text, it will refer to the noun, mill, as singular. “Mills” is explained by the fact there were numerous milling machines or “mills” within the single mill building. The mill went through a number of name changes over the years. The original mill builder, R.C. Finley called it Boston Mills (1858). When Martin Thompson bought the mill from the previous owner William Simmons, in 1897, he modernized it and renamed it Boston Roller Mills (referring to the mechanized rollers that were added). Some time after Martin’s son Otto took over the business in 1910 (upon Martin’s death), the name changed to Thompson’s Flouring Mills (c.1918). When Otto died in 1965, his son Myrle replaced him as manager. The name was shortened to Thompson’s Mills, reflecting the discontinuation of flour milling which occurred sometime in the mid-1940s. The products produced at the mill were sold under a variety of trade names, such as Valley Rose, Delicious Apple, Oregon Maid, Flavor, and Thompson’s Best.