Historical Correction
The Error
I’d like to point out a common incorrect reference regarding the mill’s name that has been perpetuated over the years.
You may have noticed my many references to “Lewisville Roller Mills” — in the plural. Perhaps it was common practice over the years for folks to refer to the mill conversationally without the “s” on the end of its name — simply as “Lewisville Roller Mill” or “Lewisville Mill.” Even members of our family did that, and I myself remember answering the phone there with, “Lewisville Mill.”
Compounding the error of the omitted “s” was the existence of some vendors’ product signs and give-away products which left the “s” off the name. In fact, a close examination of a photo taken of the mill in the 1970s (shown elsewhere in this article) indeed shows a metal sign tacked onto the front of the mill which incorrectly displayed “Lewisville Roller Mill.”
In addition, numerous newspaper articles written about the mill over the years sometimes cited the name correctly, but often did not.
Yet, as can be seen on the sign below (as well as in the product shots shown on another page), the mill’s name clearly includes the “s.”
This antique sign of the mill appears to have been adapted from the 1940s photo shown on the previous page. Since the mill wasn’t incorporated until the 1960s, the sign does not include the corporate designation in the name that is shown on some of the mill’s products pictured elsewhere in the article. (Note: The actual colors of this sign are primarily red, white and green. The monochrome blue color used in this graphic is simply for consistency with this website’s color scheme.)
The Explanation
Now, I actually think it’s natural to want to use the mill’s name in the singular. After all, there’s only one mill building, right?
The explanation for the plural use, as told by my Uncle Gwyn, was that there were several types of mills operating within the building: the flour mill, the corn mill and the feed mill.
The “Roller” portion of the name described the type of process used to make flour, where the wheat was crushed between metal rolls within a large metal casing; and there were several banks of these “rolls,” as we called them. Corn meal was actually ground on a stone, and was thus considered “stone-ground,” although it was powered by electricity, not water. The feed mill employed yet a third method of grinding, using “hammers” to pound the grain used to make animal feed. Before the hammer mill machinery was brought in, though, a set of rolls was used to make the animal feed.
So that’s some background behind the name, “Lewisville Roller Mills.” I felt it was important, for the sake of historical accuracy, to correct what, understandably, might have been confusing to some.
GET THE FULL STORY! If you arrived on this page from a source other than the main article in which Deb Phillips shares her family’s story on Lewisville Roller Mills, please CLICK on over to enjoy the full story and many historical photos of Lewisville Roller Mills and the Jennings family .
