Make A Gift to the Messer/Mayer Mill Restoration Fund
The Messer/Mayer Mill is one of the few remaining timber-frame grist (grain) mills in the Midwest that is still intact and on its original site. And, rarer still, it has all its original equipment in place just as it was on its last day of operation more than 60 years ago.
We Need Your Help to Get the Messer/Mayer Mill Grinding Again . . .
- Make a gift: Gift Form
- Etch Your Name in History by contributing $500 or more and receiving a personalized brick: Brick Form
Send your forms and check to:
Richfield Historical Society
PO Box 268
Richfield, WI 53076
Make your donation online using our secure payment system.
Make your donation by scanning the Richfield Historical Society's Venmo Code.
Why Preserve the Messer/Mayer Mill . . .
The Messer/Mayer Mill is a unique structure containing three different milling technologies that utilized three different sources of power over its lifetime. The Mill is a wonderful example of nineteenth-century rural industry and literally a museum of milling history. It represents a time when wheat was the basis of Wisconsin’s agriculture; a time that saw the transition from stone grinding to modern roller mills, as well as water power to electricity.
The Richfield Historical Society has raised the funds to restore the Mill foundation. However, to continue with the goal of Getting the Mill Grinding, the next task is to rebuild the engine shed that will house the Superior Engine. This engine will be the power source to operate the mill until water can be brought in. After the engine shed is finished, work will begin on restoring the original equipment found in the Mill.
Once completed, the Mill will provide a working classroom giving
visitors of all ages the experience of the milling process as it was
done in the period from the 1870s to the 1950s.
Your donation will help the volunteers of the Richfield Historical Society
succeed with this project: "Let's Get the Mill Grinding". All funds go to the Mill restoration. The Mill is the major tourist attraction in the Village of Richfield.
What Needs to Be Done to Get the Mill Grinding. . .
- Build the engine shed to house the Superior Engine
- Clean and rebuild the Mill's floor hopper, chute and grain elevators
- Clean and rebuild the bolting (sifting) machine
- Clean the storage bins and rebuild the bagging area
- Realign the shafting that turns the millstones
- Hook up the Superior engine as the power source for the millstones
- Rebuild the dam
- Restore the Leffel turbine (the turbine will be used when water becomes the power source)
- Rebuild the Sawmill
How Else Can You Help . . .
- Become a Member
- Share your skills/talents to save history through Volunteering
- Visit the beautiful Richfield Historical Park
- Attend Richfield Historical Society Events and take a tour of the Messer/Mayer Mill
- Share information about the Messer/Mayer Mill with others
The Richfield Historical Society is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your contribution may be tax deductible. Please consult your tax advisor.
Thank you for supporting our efforts to restore the
Messer/Mayer Mill and “Let's Get the Mill Grinding”!
