Hodgson-Aid Mill
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Constructed in 1897, The Aid-Hodgson Mill in rural Ozark County, Missouri, is one of the few surviving mills in Ozark County, which once supported at least a dozen mills. The Aid-Hodgson Mill was typical of the custom water mills built in the rural Ozarks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Still, it included several modern features such as a roller mill and turbine-driven gristmill. The mill initially performed as a custom milling facility, but it later evolved into a large market milling operation. Farmers routinely camped near the mill because they waited for days to have their grains milled, allowing them to socialize and shop at the general store built by Hodgson.
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The Hodgson-Aid Mill is where the Hodgson Mill company got its start.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Ozark County, a name derived from the French abbreviation "Aux Arcs" for Aux Arkansas, which refers to Arkansas Indians, was established in 1841. White settlers began populating the area near Hodgson Mill Spring before the Civil War. The spring produces more than twenty-three million gallons of water per day, making it suitable for building a water-powered mill. In 1861, William Holeman built a mill at the base of the cliff where Hodgson Spring discharges, but the mill closed during the Civil War. It is unclear if Holeman reopened the mill or had to build a new one after the war, but he resumed operations and continued to manage the mill until he died in 1879. Although the mill enjoyed success, the area did not receive formal planning and did not have a post office until 1891, when Alva Hodgson established the Sycamore post office. He served as the first postmaster and named the post office "Sycamore" for the abundance of sycamore trees in the area.
Alva Hodgson came from a family of millers. It is possible that Alva Hodgson's ancestors were millers in Europe and took up that same trade when they immigrated to the United States. For sure, the earliest record of a Hodgson operating a mill in the United States was William Hodgson in North Carolina in 1787. Alva Hodgson's father, Isaiah Hodgson, also worked as a miller. He constructed a mill in Ozark County at Rainbow Springs, but a flood destroyed it. In 1884, Alva Hodgson and his mother, Mary Elizabeth Hodgson, purchased the mill.
A wood turbine powered the original mill built by William Holeman, which Hodgson continued to use for the first few years of his ownership. However, during the off-season, he worked at a sawmill in Lake Charles, LA, to earn extra money to build a new, modernized mill. In 1897, Hodgson realized his dream when he completed the current Hodgson Mill building. Hodgson replaced the wood turbine with a water turbine, a relatively new technology at the time. The mill also utilized a roller mill where he produced an excellent grade of flour known as "Patent" flour, made possible by the invention of the "middling purifier" developed around 1870. Indeed, Hodgson included all the latest developments when he constructed his mill. The creation of the middling purifier resulted in higher quality flour, and the roller mill technology used less power, both of which resulted in increased production yields.
Despite the long history and widespread reliance on water power in Europe, watermill technology remained relatively unchanged for centuries. The invention of the Poncelet wheel and the water turbine design in the early nineteenth century revolutionized water power technology. The water turbine could operate wholly submerged, which reduced the effect of the changing water level of the water source and meant that the turbine could utilize more water power. The water turbine also operated at a much higher velocity, had a greater efficiency, and could be much smaller than a water wheel.
Between the time that Alva Hodgson purchased the mill property and the completion of the Hodgson Mill, he built on the property the aforementioned Sycamore post office and a general store. Although Sycamore never evolved into a platted town, the area near the Aid-Hodgson Mill mirrored that of numerous rural gristmills by serving as a social and economic hub. The efficiency of the technologically advanced mill allowed farmers to go beyond subsistence farmers; they could turn their milled crops into commodities sold outside of town. Meanwhile, the Aid-Hodgson Mill proved so popular that farmers frequently waited several days for their grain to be ground. Thus, farmers often brought their families (many of whom camped near the mill), socialized with other farmers, and purchased goods at the general store.
In 1901, Alva's brother, George, took over the mill. Alva constructed mills in other Ozark locations for years until he returned to the Hodgson Mill in the late 1910s. Alva decided to install a dynamo to generate electricity to light the mill and power six industrial sewing machines used to produce Big Smith overalls; the sewing machine venture lasted from roughly 1918 to 1921, when the business ceased operations shortly before Alva Hodgson died.
George Hodgson died in 1927, and that same year, the Aid-Hodgson Mill left the ownership of the Hodgson family for the first time. Fred O. Foster owned the mill from 1927-1934, then sold it to prominent West Plains businessman C. T. Aid, leading to its current name: Aid-Hodgson Mill. In 1969, Ken and Teena Harrington, who sold antiques and managed a nearby canoe rental business, took over the mill lease. The Harringtons offered flour and products in their store and incorporated the company as Hodgson Mill, Inc., grinding a couple hundred pounds of flour per day. However, by 1973, milling production grew to nearly one million pounds of wheat and corn, and sales had grown 500 percent. Thus, in 1976, the Harringtons moved production to a modern facility in Gainesville.
No large-scale production has taken place at Hodgson Mill since 1976. The mill transitioned to a tourist attraction which remains its main purpose today. For a short time, the Hodgson family again managed the mill. Between 1985 and 1993, Herbert Smith, the great-nephew of Alva Hodgson, and his wife leased the mill. In addition to providing mill tours, they also operated a store, resort cabins, and a campground.
Sources
"Hodgson Mill." West Plains Missouri: Historic Mills. explorewestplains.com. Accessed July 16, 2022. https://explorewestplains.com/hodgson-mill/.
Goodwin, Juliana. "Hodgson Mill, known for non-GMO products, got its start in the Ozarks." Sprinfield News-Leader. February 12, 2016. https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/business/2016/02/12/hodgson-mill-known-non-gmo-products-got-its-start-ozarks/80266004.
"Our Story." Hodgson Mills. Accessed November 21, 2018. https://www.hodgsonmill.com/pages/our-story.
Robins, Ruby M. "Aid-Hodgson Water Mill In Ozark County Grinds Meal and Flour Daily." White River Valley Historical Quarterly 3, no. 9 (1969). https://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/wrv/V3/N9/F69d.htm.
Snider, Becky L. "Hodgson-Aid Mill." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. February 12, 2002. https://dnr.mo.gov/shpo/nps-nr/02000015.pdf.
Smith, Norman. “The Origins of the Water Turbine.” Scientific American 242, no. 1 (1980): 138–49. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24966239.
Ozark County, a name derived from the French abbreviation "Aux Arcs" for Aux Arkansas, which refers to Arkansas Indians, was established in 1841. White settlers began populating the area near Hodgson Mill Spring before the Civil War. The spring produces more than twenty-three million gallons of water per day, making it suitable for building a water-powered mill. In 1861, William Holeman built a mill at the base of the cliff where Hodgson Spring discharges, but the mill closed during the Civil War. It is unclear if Holeman reopened the mill or had to build a new one after the war, but he resumed operations and continued to manage the mill until he died in 1879. Although the mill enjoyed success, the area did not receive formal planning and did not have a post office until 1891, when Alva Hodgson established the Sycamore post office. He served as the first postmaster and named the post office "Sycamore" for the abundance of sycamore trees in the area. Alva Hodgson came from a family of millers. It is possible that Alva Hodgson's ancestors were millers in Europe and took up that same trade when they immigrated to the United States. For sure, the earliest record of a Hodgson operating a mill in the United States was William Hodgson in North Carolina in 1787. Alva Hodgson's father, Isaiah Hodgson, also worked as a miller. He constructed a mill in Ozark County at Rainbow Springs, but a flood destroyed it. In 1884, Alva Hodgson and his mother, Mary Elizabeth Hodgson, purchased the mill. A wood turbine powered the original mill built by William Holeman, which Hodgson continued to use for the first few years of his ownership. However, during the off-season, he worked at a sawmill in Lake Charles, LA, to earn extra money to build a new, modernized mill. In 1897, Hodgson realized his dream when he completed the current Hodgson Mill building. Hodgson replaced the wood turbine with a water turbine, a relatively new technology at the time. The mill also utilized a roller mill where he produced an excellent grade of flour known as "Patent" flour, made possible by the invention of the "middling purifier" developed around 1870. Indeed, Hodgson included all the latest developments when he constructed his mill. The creation of the middling purifier resulted in higher quality flour, and the roller mill technology used less power, both of which resulted in increased production yields. Despite the long history and widespread reliance on water power in Europe, watermill technology remained relatively unchanged for centuries. The invention of the Poncelet wheel and the water turbine design in the early nineteenth century revolutionized water power technology. The water turbine could operate wholly submerged, which reduced the effect of the changing water level of the water source and meant that the turbine could utilize more water power. The water turbine also operated at a much higher velocity, had a greater efficiency, and could be much smaller than a water wheel. Between the time that Alva Hodgson purchased the mill property and the completion of the Hodgson Mill, he built on the property the aforementioned Sycamore post office and a general store. Although Sycamore never evolved into a platted town, the area near the Aid-Hodgson Mill mirrored that of numerous rural gristmills by serving as a social and economic hub. The efficiency of the technologically advanced mill allowed farmers to go beyond subsistence farmers; they could turn their milled crops into commodities sold outside of town. Meanwhile, the Aid-Hodgson Mill proved so popular that farmers frequently waited several days for their grain to be ground. Thus, farmers often brought their families (many of whom camped near the mill), socialized with other farmers, and purchased goods at the general store. In 1901, Alva's brother, George, took over the mill. Alva constructed mills in other Ozark locations for years until he returned to the Hodgson Mill in the late 1910s. Alva decided to install a dynamo to generate electricity to light the mill and power six industrial sewing machines used to produce Big Smith overalls; the sewing machine venture lasted from roughly 1918 to 1921, when the business ceased operations shortly before Alva Hodgson died. George Hodgson died in 1927, and that same year, the Aid-Hodgson Mill left the ownership of the Hodgson family for the first time. Fred O. Foster owned the mill from 1927-1934, then sold it to prominent West Plains businessman C. T. Aid, leading to its current name: Aid-Hodgson Mill. In 1976, Hodgson Mill Enterprises (no longer owned by the Hodson family) had outgrown the Aid-Hodgson Mill, so they moved the operation to a modern facility in Gainesville, Missouri. Since the 1970s, the mill has mainly functioned as a tourist attraction. Between 1985 and 1993, Herbert Smith, the great-nephew of Alva Hodgson, and his wife leased the mill. In addition to providing mill tours, they also operated a store, resort cabins, and a campground.