Head to rural Burfordville, Missouri, just outside of Cape Girardeau to check out the beautiful and historic Bollinger Mill State Historic Site. Here you can tour the mill, learn its heritage, and walk across the Burfordville Covered Bridge as well. The bridge is only one of four covered bridges that remain in Missouri. This Howe-Truss bridge served as a way for farmers to haul their grain to the mill. Both the mill and the bridge were completed around 1867 and are listed as National Historic Sites.

Bollinger Mill is a brick and stone structure standing four stories high. The mill predates the Civil War. At Bollinger mill, corn was ground into flour and meal. 

The first mill on this property was built in 1800, by a farmer named George Frederick Bollinger. Bollinger would later become a Missouri State Senator. 

George Frederick Bollinger had first arrived in the area in 1797 claiming a Spanish offer for free land. Bringing 20 families with him, he moved from North Carolina, and established a settlement near the Whitewater River where he built his mill.

The mill built in 1800 was destroyed, and no one is sure quite how. They do know that George Bollinger rebuilt the mill in 1825. The mill was built on a foundation constructed of cut limestone with the floors made of wood. George Bollinger died in 1842, however, his daughter Sarah continued to operate the mill with her two sons until it was burned by Civil War Union soldiers. Sarah was eventually forced to sell the mill to cover the debts of her son Samuel Daugherty.

The mill story continues when Solomon Richard Buford arrived in 1862. After the war, he moved to Cape Girardeau County, and in 1866 bought the mill for $24,000 from Sarah Bollinger. At that time only the foundation and dam were intact. Buford rebuilt the mill using local brick and stone. This is the same as it is today. 

Besides the mill, there is also the Buford Bridge which as previously mentioned was used to bring grain to the mill. Construction on the bridge was done by Joseph Lansmon. The covered bridge is 140 feet long and 12 feet wide and was constructed from yellow poplar wood. It is the oldest of the remaining bridges left in Missouri. 

The road the bridge is on was originally a toll road, between Burfordville, Jackson, and Cape Girardeau. The bridge has been restored several times. 

The local town was named after Solomon Buford, and he was appointed the first postmaster. He later left the area in 1880 and leased the mill finally selling it to the Cape County Milling Company in 1895.

The Cape County Milling Company grew and built two other mills, two were in Jackson, and the third is the former Bollinger Mill built in Burfordville. Together, the three mills ground around 700 barrels of flour a day! By 1914, capacity was improved to production of around 1400 barrels a day. The flour produced by the Cape County Milling Company was called “Gold Leaf”.

The Bollinger/Cape County Mill in Burfordville operated until 1940. Then it was used for grinding and mixing feed for livestock, and as a distribution point until it was sold in 1953. Soon after that, the mill was donated to the Cape Girardeau Historical Society. Then, in 1967, the mill and bridge were donated by the Historical Society to the State of Missouri. The property became a State Historic Site. Today visitors to the mill can enjoy a tour of the mill and visit Buford Bridge as well.

Many of the original pieces of machinery in the mill are on display like the Leffel Turbine that was installed in 1867. There is also a portable stone mill and other items to enjoy during the tour. Lucky visitors will get a chance to see “Flour” the mouser cat who greets tourists when they enter!

With construction currently taking place, note that the mill may occasionally be closed during the week. Call 573-243-4591 with questions. For more information, log onto www.mostateparks.com.