History
The property where Malvern Roller Mill is located was purchased by William P. Hiddelson on October 1, 1845. No records exist to indicate when Hiddelson built the mill on the east bank of Rock Creek in Clyde Township, Whiteside County but it is known that the country mill was in place by 1853. In addition to the mill building Hiddelson built a dam across the creek. The original mill was destroyed by a flood along the Rock Creek and the current mill building constructed in 1858. On September 27, 1871 the mill complex was sold to Benjamin Hough and became known as Hough's Mill. Hough sold the mill to Jacob Geyer on January 6, 1875 and Geyer's son later owned the property. During S.L. Geyer's ownership the mill became known as Geyer's Mill. Balthaser Schriner bought the mill on April 27, 1887.
The original mill was powered by a vertical waterwheel; the mill, at the time, utilized buhrstones to grind the meal. On the nearby property, discarded buried buhrstones can be found. In the 1870s or 1880s the mill owners added a 20 horsepower (15 kW) turbine to help the mill keep up with advances in technology. In 1888 Schriner installed a set of rollers, manufactured by Barkley and Leads Machine Company of Moline, Illinois, at the demand of his mill operator, Amos Greater, who had threatened to quit absent the rollers.
Millwright George Appel, from Sterling, Illinois, leased the mill, adjacent land and buildings in 1892. Appel, a recent German immigrant to the United States, oat huller and made oatmeal, corn meal, flour, and bran at the mill with his son. The mill, properly known as the Malvern Roller Mill or Malvern Milling Company, became known as the Appel Mill during this time period. The Appel family held the mill from its purchase in 1892 until 1985. Flour and meal, marketed under the Malvern Roller Mill name, was marketed in Sterling, shipped out the railroad and sold in far away location such as New York City and England.
John Appel took control of the mill in 1926 and operated it until its closure in 1942. During Appel's last years running the mill he limited his customers to nearby farmers who needed grains custom ground for animal feed. He closed the mill due to shortages caused by World War II.
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