Oakesdale, Washington — Flour Mill Kept Its Machinery

Oakesdale preserved something most grain towns lost: not just an old mill building, but much of the machinery that made it a mill.

The historic McCoy Mill retains belts, rollers, elevators and equipment from an era when Palouse wheat could be processed into flour close to where it was grown. Elsewhere, similar machinery was removed, scrapped or left behind when milling consolidated into larger operations.

Oakesdale grew within that agricultural system, with rail transportation linking surrounding farms to outside markets. Modern grain handling eventually moved on while the mill became historical evidence.

Its preservation achievement is unusually mechanical. Visitors do not have to imagine what filled the building. Much of it is still there.