By ANDREA MCCANN
Indiana Correspondent

MONTGOMERY, Ind. — Under different names and owners, a feed mill has anchored one end of Main Street in Montgomery, after serving the surrounding community since 1888. Currently owned by Joe and Gladys Traylor, Montgomery Grain & Feed Mill is still in its original building, but has much newer tanks and driers.

There are five large bins with driers and holding bins above the driers, according to Joe Traylor. “There probably aren’t too many as unique as we are with our old building,” he said, adding that a structure remains on the back of the building, that allowed for easy access to trains that used to stop by on the adjacent tracks.

Originally the Harris & Bell Mill, the structure was built to mill grain, Traylor explained.

“It was probably built for a flour mill,” he said. “Then it was converted in the early 1900s for grain and feed. Sometime in the 1920s it was sold to Igleheart Elevators out of Evansville. They had several elevators in other places.”

The business remained an Igleheart Elevator until 1969, when Traylor and Bill Loughmiller purchased it. In 1985, Loughmiller sold out and Roman Wagler became Traylor’s partner. In 2002, Traylor bought out Wagler.

He runs the mill with the help of manager Eli Swartzentruber and office manager Jane Hart. Swartzentruber has been there since 1992, and Hart has worked there off and on since 1959.

In the early days, Traylor said, people brought in wheat to be milled for flour. In the 1950s through the 1970s, farmers brought their wheat crop to Iglehearts to buy and ship to Evansville. “It used to be a big deal,” he said. “There was a long line. Wheat harvest isn’t like that anymore, but we still handle grain.”

Traylor said they operate a mill, not an elevator. He said at Montgomery Grain & Feed Mill they buy and sell grain, and they also store grain for producers who have more than they can handle at home. But probably their biggest business these days is custom feeds.

“We carry commercial feeds, but we mix most of it,” Swartzentruber said. “We mix it to (customers’) specifications, and I do make some recommendations if somebody asks.”

Most people know what they want and ask for specific grains and ingredients in certain amounts, according to Traylor. Swartzentruber added the mill has some grain on hand for this purpose, and there also is a grain bank so customers can store their own grain for feed.

“They can call in and order it, and we’ll mix it and deliver it,” Swartzentruber said, adding Montgomery’s can also order pre-mixed feeds of all kinds.

Most times, he said, the feed is for ordinary farm animals – generally horses, pigs, cattle and sheep. From time to time, however, they may get a request for something like alpaca feed, and he’s happy to do some research and supply those needs, as well.

“Another big thing we do is supply baby chicks,” Traylor said. “We have a free annual pancake and sausage breakfast the first Saturday of March and place the chick orders for the year.”

The mill had an unusual function that Traylor remembers well before he and his wife became the owners. When they were children, he said, the building served as a makeshift screen for outdoor movies.

“Back in the ’40s, every Thursday night a movie was shown,” he explained. “The west side was a parking lot. People would park, and the kids would go down front, and we’d all watch the show. There were two groceries that stayed open.

“We lived close, so every Thursday night I got a dime for a Coke and candy bar. The merchants in town paid for the movie.”

Though those days are long gone, and the industry has changed through the years – the drop-off in wheat production as one example – Traylor said what they do at Montgomery Grain & Feed hasn’t changed a lot. He said he’s had many inquiries about purchasing the building for a restaurant, but for now it’ll remain Montgomery Grain & Feed Mill, continuing to provide a needed service to local farmers.