LOST COKATO: FLOUR MILLS & GRAIN ELEVATORS

Museum Staff, "Lost Cokato: Flour Mills & Grain Elevators." In The Midst Of, Cokato Historical Society (August, 2025) vol. 45 no. 2.

​Before the diversification of farming, wheat was king in Cokato. J. E. Jenks built the first grain house in 1869. William Davidson and F. R. Delano built Cokato’s first elevator in 1876, right along side the railroad tracks. The second elevator was a circular elevator that was erected in 1879 by local farmers. Unfortunately, the structure burned down shortly after in May of 1881. That same year, Bull Edmonds & Co. and L. Cotfield & Co. each built an elevator. By 1890 there were four elevators in Cokato.

Around this time, Cokato was exporting 500 carloads of grain     annually (in the early, 1900s a rail car was about 24 feet long, as opposed to the 44 foot rail cars of the mid 1990s). Poultry, eggs, and butter were also shipped out of Cokato by rail, but not enough to even make a car load.

According to The Cokato Canneries by Roger Salmala, part of the reason more farmers did not switch to corn with the opening of the Cokato Cannery was because The Great Northern Railway provided fair rates and good service.
By 1915, Cokato’s four elevators were owned by the Farmer’s Elevated Company, Osborn McMillian Elevator Co., Cokato Mill & Elevator Company, and Cargill Elevator Company. Wright County’s main crops were changing from wheats, oats, rye, and barley to corn.

By April of 1939, the Cokato Mill & Elevator Company became the only remaining grain elevator in Cokato. The elevator was built in 1887, and was used for milling flour and later the grinding and preparation of feed products. The mill was       destroyed by fire on August 14, 1947. The blaze was seen for miles. Today, C & H Ag Service is located on the site.