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Fair Grove Wommack Mill History
The historic Wommack Mill is located on the corner of Old Mill Road (Highway 125) and Main Street, in Fair Grove, Missouri. The stone buhr grist mill was built in 1883, by Joe Hine and John Boegel 33 years after the town was founded. It is the town's oldest standing structure.
The mill was constructed of rough-cut oak framework with horizontal lap siding on top of a native rock foundation. The outside dimensions were 30' X 40', and it stood 40' tall. Although it was located close to a running brook, it was never powered by a water wheel. The stream's flow was dammed and a well was dug to provide water for a single-cylinder steam engine that was belted to the 42 inch French Burr stones. Sometime in the 1920s or 30s, an electric motor and gasoline engine were used, and the final source of power was a diesel engine purchased from E. A. Martin Machinery Company, of Springfield.
From the mill's beginning in 1883, to its closing in 1969, it had many owners and went by several different names. The best loved and most well remembered of the past millers were Clifford and Ethel Wommack.
The "Wommack Mill" has gone by the following names:
- Boegel Hine Flour Mill
- Boegel and Long Mill
- Fair Grove Mill and Livestock Company
- Fair Grove Milling Company
- Peoples Roller Mills Company
- King Mill
- Wommack Mill
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Clifford Eldon Wommack, and cousins William and Wilson, took over operation of the mill in 1923. Corn and oats were graound at that time in a hammer mill, and millers mixed feed with that for cow feed and hog feed. Grain flour and cornmeal were also produced at the mill.
The large double doors on the front of the mill were closed in 1969, following Clifford Wommack's death. The mill stood idle and forgotten until members of the Fair Grove Historical and Preservation Society saw a need and patched the many holes in the roof and did little repairs to help protect it from the weather until further restoration work could begin.
In 1984, the Fair Grove Historical and Preservation Society purchased the mill and two acres from the Wommack heirs, and since that time it has been transformed into the impressive structure it is today. In addition to the exterior improvements to the mill, the basement portion, formerly only four or five feet deep in places, was cleared of dirt, rocks and debris, and has been excavated to allow a rock ledge to be laid and a concrete floor to be poured.
The dirt and debris in the steam engine room was also excavated, making way for a concrete floor and platform for the steam engine. There were several improvements made to the main floor and walls of the mill, also, which provided a nice area for the many museum items to be displayed.
In 1997, dressing and remounting the original burr stones were among the final tasks before grain could be ground for the first time in a lot of years.
Since that time, demonstrations of how they can transform kernels of corn into cornmeal and chicken scratch can be seen during the annual Ice Cream Social and the Heritage Reunion. Two or three corn shellers are ready and waiting for the children to turn their cranks, and for the kernels to come tumbling forth.
The Wommack Mill, a Greene County and Missouri State Historic Site, was placed on the National Historic Register as Boegel and Hine Mill. Today it is the focal point of the Fair Grove Ice Cream Social held each year on the second Saturday of July, and the Fair Grove Heritage Reunion, held each year on the last full weekend of September. It is also a very picturesque backdrop for numerous weddings, family reunions, picnics, meetings or for a quiet visit.
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