Photo 3 shows the Pillsbury complex. The Pillsbury A Mill on the left was built in 1881 at a cost of nearly half a million dollars. The large cylindrical buildings on the far right of the complex are reinforced concrete grain elevators. Each cylinder is a separate storage unit, holding thousands of bushels of wheat. Reinforced concrete provided cheap and efficient storage and some protection against the constant danger of explosions from spontaneous combustion of the wheat.
Concrete grain storage elevators were developed in Minneapolis by the Peavey Company. Their first elevator is still standing just west of Minneapolis.
Questions for Photo 3
1. What does the sign on top of the tallest building say? Why do you think Pillsbury would advertise on its mill buildings?
2. Count the grain elevators in this photo. What was the advantage of using reinforced concrete for storage? Note the size of the containers. Why do you think it was necessary to have such large structures for storing the wheat?
3. What claim did the owner make about the complex in the early 1900s? If needed, refer to Reading 1. Does this image help you understand the size and complexity of this complex? Why or why not?
* The image on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Photo 3, but be aware that the file will take as much as 30 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.