Masonry Square-Bin Grain Elevators: Examples (IHS Built Environment Typology)

Images of Masonry Square-Bin Grain Elevators through history and across the continent.

Grain Elevators are ubiquitous buildings, yet there is little popular understanding of them and their origins.

The basic arrangement of a grain elevator fits into two different "Type Families" based on whether it is a discrete building ("Self-Contained"), or a semi-dispersed cluster of structures (Annex).

Within those classifications, there are several distinctive types based on grain bin design and arrangment. Construction material and assembly then determine different subtypes or material variants.

An index to this and related typologies spells out the interrelationships concisely (without the clutter of images and descriptive text). Related and similar building and structure types are in a sibling websection.

Ayler & Meyer Co., Aurora, Indiana

Here's a wonderful brick grain elevator I found in southeast Indiana, where an old highway reaches the Ohio River.

It appears that the flour mill on the left side was built first, and the elevator added to it later; I'd guess that both date to the 1880s. The order of construction is indicated by the two parts not being at the same level, and the change in brick color between the two. I would expect the flour mill to be built first since it would be more able to function independently, and it would be built near the downtown area (as this one is). The grain elevator part is rather small (probably to fit into the site) and probably would not be too competitive with other grain elevators on more spacious sites. It is also thin and probably would have had smaller windows or larger piers between the windows if it did not have the mill to help buttress it; and the grain elevator part forms an ell around the mill part in the rear.

The painted-on signs are so refreshingly 19th-century: trumpet everything you offer on every wall surface. On the front they read: "AYLOR & MEYER CO. / ROMEO [brand flour?] RAINBOW FEED / ROOFING FENCING / THE FEEDERS SILENT PARTNER / SALT FERTILIZER / ELEVATOR / SEEDS GRAIN FLOUR & HAY GRINDING". On the side: "RAINBOW FEED / [cow, hog? and duck] Our choice... / ...every time! [cow, chicken, dog?] / AYLER MEYER CO.".

The loading / unloading dock is a necessity for mills. Fortunately, this one is still in use...but for how long? Flour milling is not listed on the signs, and that probably ended soon after WWII when commercial flour was readily available. I would guess that their business is probably mainly agricultural and lawn & garden supplies.

I'm not sure how the grain bins fit around the windows; I presume the front and rear have work areas that are/were lighted by the windows, and the fourth "floor" is at the top of the bins. The cute cupola is either bearing brick, or painted to match the brick walls.

The rear view reveals a skewed rear wall, evidently to optimize area along the non-orthogonal railroad line. The skew stretches out the gable roof on the rear, and the grain elevator part clearly forms an ell around the mill part.

"Ayler Elevator," town of Aurora, Dearborn or Ohio County, southeast Indiana, USA - 21 October 2002.

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