129 Main Street
Lander's Mill -By 1887-88 the farmers were pushing for a local flour mill and went as far as putting up some of their own money to entice someone to take on the project. At that time, wheat was grown in abundance but little was sold except as chicken feed. J. D. Woodruff took up the offer, invested some of his own money, and soon had a mill up and running--- and producing flour.
Prior to the mill, flour was freighted from Rawlins, bore a tariff, and took two weeks to reach Lander. The first source of power for milling was water. A wooden flume carried water to the wheel, but the water would freeze in the winter. Powered by oil-fired boilers, the mill was converted from water power to steam. This “power” was soon harnessed and provided electricity to the town. Power was only available to the town at night, as the power was used during the day by the Mill. Exceptions were made on Tuesdays and Fridays when the mill left the power on for “ironing days.”
Tidbits:
- Lander was the second town in the state to have electrical power.
- In 1927 the large elevator was built to the east of the mill to store excess wheat.
- In 1928 Lander Mill became the first “franchised” dealer of Purina Chows livestock feed in the State of Wyoming.
- In 1944 the mill discontinued the manufacturing of flour (due to not enough grain being brought to the mill by farmers).
