New home sought for artifacts

Items rescued from mill demolition at center of historical society discussion
Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
 
The Weston County Historical Society hopes to bring to life the inner workings of a portion of the historic Toomey’s Mill, which closed in 1965, according to Betty Petranek, a member of the society. But first the organization needs a building and the money to buy or build it.
The Weston County Historical Society met Sunday, Feb. 17, at the Weston County Senior Center for its regular meeting. The highlight of the meeting was a much-anticipated talk and presentation on the historic mill that was once a staple at the center of town. 
The three-story structure was built in 1905 and housed Toomey’s Mill, which produced flour, grain and seed, according to Alice Tratebas,  resident archeologist with the Bureau of Land Management who also has a passion for the historic building that later housed the Old Mill restaurant and was  torn down in 2012. 
Mike Jording, local history buff and member of the historical society, said that the mill was also the first location in Newcastle to use electricity. It ran the mill during the day and then sold the electricity to the city at night. 
Now, the society plans to bring the milling equipment back to life in a display that can teach generations to come about the mill and the products produced there. 
Tratebas told those attending the meeting that she was involved in the process of removing the equipment that was on the third floor of the mill, after the historical society was given permission to access the 1890s equipment. 
Jording said the new owners of the property granted the society access to the building. with a time frame for removing what they could. 
“The society got together, rounded up the people and put the equipment in my father’s (Don Jording) barn,” Jording said. “We wanted to save as much of the equipment as we could.”
Tratebas said the equipment removed from the site was only a portion of what was actually left in the building, and that the previous property owner took the equipment that was located on the second floor. Despite missing some of the original mill equipment, the society was able to save five pieces of equipment and other various items. 
“These pieces should be considered rare antiques and are actually pretty valuable,” Tratebas said. 
According to Tratebas, the equipment is patented in the 1890s and constructed of wood. The equipment was deconstructed, labeled (with the hopes that it could one day be reconstructed) and relocated to the Jording barn, awaiting a time that the society could afford a building to become the mill’s new home. 
Tratebas said the saved equipment includes a plan sifter, centrifugal reel, centrifugal flour-dressing machine, scourer and other pieces of equipment. 
“We are going to need an expert, anyone who knows anyone who used to work there (Toomey’s Mill). We really need somebody to give a history on how this particular mill was done,” Tratebas said. “How it was set up and how the equipment was used for our reinterpretation, so we can put it on display.” 
Tratebas took pictures during the deconstruction and moving process, hoping to fill some of the void in knowledge left by the years since the mill closed. But, she acknowledged that nothing would be better than finding someone who once saw the inner workings of the mill or was close to someone who was. 
According to Tratebas, other work will need to be done to bring the mill back to life. 
“It is not just taking a piece of equipment and setting it down,” Tratebas said. “There is additional work to put it together.” 
She said that leather pulleys and wheels were used to operate the mill, which was constructed of wood. Tratebas also said that the size of the equipment will play a role in the building size and how the equipment can be displayed. 
“We can use pictures, along with the equipment, to tell the story of how the mill was run,” Tratebas said. “We can’t put everything together, but we can use large blown-up pictures showing how it worked.” 
The look of the display can be made as authentic as possible by stacking 2-by-4s in different places. 
“We can stack them around and explain to people what they were there for,” Tratebas said. “I rescued some just to show people.” 
The prospective building must also have solid floors, Tratebas said. 
“The architect said he had never seen a building that age so solid. We are going to need solid floors, those are heavy pieces of machinery,” Tratebas said. 
The historical society also possesses the sliding door with the mural that was once located in the dining room of the Old Mill restaurant that operated at the site after the flour mill closed, Jording said. 
A building is the only thing stopping the historical society of achieving its long-time goal — and the only thing standing in the way of a building is money, Jording said. 
“It was our intent when we took the equipment out to display it,” Jording said. 
For years the historical society talked about obtaining some of that old equipment and now its members have spent the past seven years trying to find a place to display it. 
“We wanted to save some equipment, and the only stuff we could get is not put in storage, awaiting a time that we can develop a building,” Jording said. “There has been discussion with the museum board to build some sort of annex building there, but the finances haven’t worked out very well.” 
“It is our ongoing wish to display that equipment for the public,” Jording said. “There has been some discussion of selling it, but that is not an option to most everyone that has anything to do with the project, particularly Alice (Tratebas).” 
The historical society plans to continue to strive to accomplish their goal and bring a portion of Toomey’s Mill back to life.