What Is the Peavey-Haglin Experimental Concrete Grain Elevator?
This was the first circular reinforced concrete grain elevator in the USA, maybe the whole world!
What Makes It Historical?
When you’d spent a season planting, growing, harvesting, and processing tons of grain, the last thing you’d want is for all of it to go up in flames when your grain elevator caught fire! Enter Frank “Elevator King” Peavy, who stored and distributed grain from farmers in Minnesota, Iowa, and both Dakotas! His solution was to try a new construction material—concrete—and he brought on civil engineer, Charles F. Haglin, to figure out how that concrete would work! There were lots of doubters, like the New York Times, who called the idea “Peavy’s Folly” and predicted the whole thing would collapse as soon as the grain started to pour in. It did not collapse when it was completed in 1900, and in fact, the concrete elevator spread all across the country, becoming more or less the default for flour mills, ports, and government surplus storage facilities!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Become a member of the Minnesota Historical Society!
- Donate to the Minnesota Historical Society!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
5005 County Rd 25
St Louis Park, MN 55416
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Whenever the mood strikes you!