Dillard Mill State Historic Site

Built in 1908 by Polish immigrant Emil Mischke along Huzzah Creek, the historic Dillard Mill is one of the best-preserved water-powered gristmills in Missouri. It is the centerpiece of the Dillard Mill State Historic Site, which was established in 1975 to preserve and interpret the history of the mill. The mill contains much of its original machinery as well as various period tools and furnishings. It also represents the evolution of grist milling technology in Missouri. Rather than using a wooden water wheel, Mischke installed an underwater metal turbine. He also installed three rollers instead of grinding stones. Only one is original but all three operate today. In the 1930s, the mill became a tourist resort. As such, it also represents emergence of the tourist industry in the Ozarks in the first half of the 20th century. The mill was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as the Dillard Mill Historic District.

Mills were prevalent in rural communities in Missouri during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The state is blessed with numerous springs and fast-flowing streams ideal for milling. Additionally, the lack of a transportation system contributed to the growth of mills in the state. Without such a system, large milling companies had difficulty reaching rural areas. As a result, Missouri farmers could transport their grain to a nearby mill and sell the flour to local residents. It is believed that there were over 800 mills in the state by 1880.

The first mill built at this location was the Wisdom Mill, which was erected in the 1850s by a settler named Francis Wisdom. A town called Wisdom's Mill grew around it. In 1881, brothers Joseph and James Cottrell bought the mill. They also built a store and named the town Dillard, which was Joseph's middle name. They sold the mill in 1889 to Civil War Andrew veteran Jackson Mincher, who owned it until it burned down in 1895. Mincher was a Union soldier who, after the mill was destroyed, became a minister and the founding preacher of Viburnum Landmark Baptist Church in the town of Viburnum, Missouri.

Mischke bought the property in 1900 and started to build the present mill in 1904 using some of the salvaged timbers from the previous mill. He learned that a mill in St. Louis used steel rollers and a turbine and decided to install his own at the mill. Mischke's sister joined him in 1907 to help run the mill and ten years later sold her interest to him. In 1927, Mischke got married and he and his wife remained until 1930 when they moved to California.

The new owner, Lester Klemme, decided to develop the mill into a tourist resort. He named the house Klemme's Old Mill Lodge and built four cabins for guests who could fish or swim in the millpond and dine with him and his wife, all for $7. Klemme stopped operating the mill in 1956. By then he could no longer operate it due his age and small mill operators in Missouri could no longer withstand the competition from large milling companies. The town's population declined as well. Guests could still stay at the mill until 1962, when Klemme's wife died. He sold the property in 1974 and moved to St. Louis, where he died in 1980. The new owner, the Leo A. Drey Foundation, leased the property to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, which designated it a historic site in 1977.

"General Information at Dillard Mill State Historic Site." Missouri State Parks. Accessed June 21, 2022. https://mostateparks.com/page/54956/general-information.

"Mill Owner is the Last Surviving Civil War Soldier of Iron County, MO.: The Story of Andrew Jackson Fincher." Missouri State Parks. Accessed June 22, 2022. https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Dillard%20Mill%20Andrew%20Jackson%20Mincher.pdf.

Stepenoff, Bonnie. "Dillard Mill Historic District." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. January 14, 2015. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/4e6d563c-4183-4622-b9db-b5b76a47177e.