I like massive, hulking ruins as much as the next guy. Portland, Indiana, has one that’s absolutely worth slowing down for: rising high above East Votaw Street on the way to the Jay County Fairgrounds, what’s left of the old Haynes Mill still dominates the landscape. Once I noticed it, I knew I had to learn more.
The earliest part of the Portland’s Haynes Milling Company facility was built in 1876 as the Centennial Flour Mill1. About twenty years later, E.M. Haynes joined the company as a bookkeeper. In 1896, Haynes and several other businessmen incorporated the D.E. Faul Milling Company after Centennial went out of business2.
1900 saw the firm rename itself as Haynes Milling Company. The same year, it purchased a second elevator on the south side of Portland, along with a third at Blaine Station about six miles southwest of town3. The company erected a 20,000-bushel grain elevator in 1905, and I believe that’s the ruin that still stands today.
By 1921, Haynes was equipped with ultra-modern milling machinery that produced its “Our Pride” brand of flour4. Fire damaged the elevator in 19365, but the company rebounded and officially changed its name to Haynes Milling Company, Incorporated, the following year6. By 1946, Haynes was home to sixteen buildings that covered 59,000 square feet7.
In the 1960s, Haynes Milling Company reinvented itself by rolling out the Peppy Dog Food brand8. The pivot paid off: in 1974, the company left flour behind as it announced a $500,000 expansion that would catapult its annual output of dog biscuits from 10,000 tons to 37,0009. A new plant dedicated to pet foods opened at the east end of East Lincoln Street, leaving the old mill open for occasional grain storage10.
Unfortunately, that chapter ended dramatically. In 1991, a massive fire tore through the vacant mill, destroying most of what was left of the structure. The blaze was so intense that fire crews were called in from Salamonia, Pennville, Redkey, and Bryant10! The regional emergency sealed the mill’s fate as a ruin rather than a relic. For anyone passing down East Votaw Street, Haynes Mill means more, though. Today, it’s a monument to the cycles of industry that once powered towns like Portland. The ruins are a reminder of how quickly those eras can slip into memory.
Sources Cited
1 Singer, C. (1991, March 21). The Muncie Star. p. 3.
2 Haynes Milling Company of Portland Celebrating Golden Anniversary (1946, December 2). The Muncie Star. p. 8.
3 (See footnote 2).
4 Haynes Mill Is Well Equipped (1921, October 2). The Muncie Star. p. 37.
5 Mill At Portland Is Damaged By Fire (1935, December 10). The Muncie Star. p. 1.
6 (See footnote 2).
7 (See footnote 2).
8 Routledge, R. (2006, March 19). Portland plant a real treat – if you’re a dog. The Muncie Star Press. p. 23.
9 Addition to Haynes Plant Boosts Pet Food Capacity (1974, October 1). The Muncie Star. p. 20.
10 (See footnote 1).
That would have been an impressive structure in its day!
The rock-faced block helps to date the smaller building to probably the 25 year span before 1930.
I remember that post of yours, and that tracks with sanborn fire insurance maps I’ve found of the place.
Lived on Depot street for a short while in the 70s that tower and the rest of the Mill at that time was the main part of my surroundings and landscape in those days. it’ll come down one of these days and another piece of History will have slipped into memory and the pages of books
Makes me wonder why it hasn’t come down yet after so many years.
owner needs to fill in the openings and make it a great marker for Portland with signage or mural or both.
That would be quite a landmark!
The visions I can see on what this could be.
Right?!?
across from the mill families lived and worked there. The Wolford,Traxler boys worked. These men were my uncles, my father.
Didn’t know that! Thanks for the additional info.