NM History: The Only Mill Standing

Only in Your State | New Mexico | September 10, 2019

The Cleveland Roller Mill is the largest functioning flour mill of its kind in the whole Southwest, and it’s right here in New Mexico, and is now a museum.

The roller mill was constructed at the close of the 19th century, in the tiny town of Cleveland in Mora County. Up until 1940, Mora was known for wheat production and the mill was needed to process the wheat.

When the mill was built, the machines, gears, and other equipment was brought into Las Vegas, New Mexico by train and then transported by wagon to the mill site in the Mora Valley.

Today, in our modern automobiles, a trip between these places is only about thirty minutes or so, back then the journey by wagon was an all day affair.

The Mill functions with the power of an 18 1/2 foot cast iron water wheel that sits on the east side of the building. The main gear inside the mill is attached to the waterwheel and provides power for numerous pulleys and belts that drove the mill’s machinery. This gear is taller than the average person and is made of cast iron also.

The wheat seed would begin the grinding process by going through the first of the roller mill stands. This mill stand contained the “break” rolls (very rough) that would start the grinding process by “breaking” the bran outer hull of the wheat and subsequent smoother rolls would continue the grinding until all possible flour, bran, and germ was extracted. Gravity chutes are also built inside the mill and are part of the semi-automatic transport system used to move wheat and flour around the mill. Elevators, consisting of continuous looped belts with small buckets, would dump the product into the gravity chute, where it would slide down to the next machine or bin.

The box like object in the background is one of the huge sifters of the “four box sifter” and contains large horizontal screens from top to bottom. The boxes are suspended from an eccentric shaft and the motion of the shaft when operating, causes the boxes to shake and sift flour through their screens. The lower half of each box contains controls to allow flour to cross the screens or bypass them in order to process the specific grade of flour the miller wanted.

There also is a “plan sifter” which, besides sifting, contains a fan to blow off fine dust. Some of the original belts used to run the mills machines were made of leather and the museum still maintains those leather belts that were left on the machines when the mill ceased operating.

On weekends, between Memorial Day and Labor Day, you can wander around this practical yet quaint building. Inside you’ll discover displays about milling and the building’s history.

The best time to go is during Mill-fest, which takes place on Labor Day weekend. That’s when the mill machinery is put back into action. The water wheel continuously turns as visitors tour the mill, and enjoy live music, food, and arts and crafts.