Parks Flouring & Saw Mill
Parks Flouring & Saw Mill
Race St., north of W. Water St., Urbana
The building is no longer standing
Park’s Flouring and Saw Mill, opened by William Park in 1850, was the first steam engine-operated mill in the county. People would travel up to thirty miles to have their grinding done at Park’s mill. This mill was in operation by Park until the Civil War. After the Civil War, Park opened a large flouring mill in Sidney, although he continued to reside in Urbana.
William Park, who arrived in Urbana in 1849 from Greene County, Ohio, was an extensive land-holder throughout Champaign County and had interests in woolen mills, an iron foundry, and in the manufacture of reapers and mowers. Along with Archibald Campbell, he built the Urbana & Champaign Street Railway. This street railway, the first in Illinois outside Chicago, connected the two cities.
