The following story is reprinted with permission from ‘North
Dakota History,’ Volume 47, Number 1 (Winter 1980). Copyright
1980. State Historical Society of North Dakota. All rights
reserved.
The Carson Roller Mill is the only known roller flour mill in
North Dakota to remain essentially unaltered and complete with
original equipment. Roller mills were a common feature of trade
center towns in the early settlement period, but nearly all of them
have been lost to fire, demolition, or incorporation into grain
elevator complexes. The Carson Mill presently contains the original
milling equipment installed between 1913 and 1919, as well as disc
grain cleaners installed in 1924. A single-cylinder, 32 horsepower
Fairbanks Morse kerosene engine in the basement provides power to
pulleys and drive belts that extend in series to the third
floor.
The mill was built in 1913 by a group of Carson residents led by
businessman and promoter, Richard Mott. The business opened that
year under direction of head miller, A. W. Berkner, who lived with
his family in the south wing of the building. By mid-1914 the mill
was turning out 45 barrels of ‘Wild Rose Flour’ per day by
operating both day and night. The market for the flour was
primarily local, but by 1918 the Carson Mill was also shipping
flour to firms in Minneapolis and Boston.
The Fairbanks Morse power center of the Carson Roller Mill. From
the picture collection of the State Historical Society of North
Dakota.
The early history of the mill included frequent changes in
management and millers until the business was purchased by the
Muggli Brothers of Glen Ullin in 1919. Vincent Muggli became both
manager and miller, and continued to operate the mill until his
retirement in 1960. The Carson Roller Mill has been maintained in
operating condition since 1960 for purposes of grain cleaning and
storage for the Muggli farms of the Carson vicinity.
