The Industrial Heritage Trail

The Frontier Elevator/ General Mills. The large General Mills elevating and milling complex at 54 Michigan Ave. began as a small Buffalo-owned elevator company, Frontier Elevator, incorporated in 1886 by six local businessmen. In 1903 the Washburn-Crosby Co. came from Minneapolis and constructed a brick flour mill next to the Frontier Elevator, along with nine tile storage bins. The bins received their grain from the Frontier Elevator via conveyor. The tile bins and a portion of the original mill are still visible st the foot of Michigan Avenue. Much expansion took place in 1908-09 with a new mill and concrete elevator along with the first phase of a new Frontier Elevator made out of concrete. By 1913 it was the fourth largest elevating and milling company in the country. In 1925 the company erected yet another elevator through its Frontier subsidiary, and many more improvements and additions were made throughout the 1920's and 1930's. After WWI the milling industry became very unstable in ths country which gave rise to a large merger movement. In 1928 James F. Bell of Washburn-Crosby aligned a number of smaller milling companies to merge into the new General Mills. In 1941 a new mill for cereal & packages goods was completed along with new warehouse facilities. When the plant opened it introduced a new cereal
product known as "Cheerioats," the country's first ready-to-eat oat cereal. In 1945 the name was changed to "Cheerios" in order to settle a trademark dispute. At times the familiar smell of oats being processed floats over the surrounding neighborhoods. In 1960 the "Bellare Air Spun" process for milling flour was developed by General Mills. The new process was less costly and faster than older methods because it drastically reduced the amount of handling and the number of steps necessary to turn wheat into flour. The new technology also used about 28 percent less space necessary to turn wheat into flour. The vastly simplified technology was as revolutionary within the industry as the first roller mill had been in its time. The new mill was officially opened on March 8, 1961. By the end of 1969 the older mills at the plant were torn down and the Bellera left to handle all the flour milling operations. To this day, General Mills remains a vital part of Buffalo's waterfront heritage as a cereal and flour producer. (2015)The Connecting Terminal Grain Elevator. With the wooden Connection Terminal Elevator gone, there were not enough grain elevators in the city to handle the massive grain loads bound for Buffalo. The owner of the elevator, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, immediately set forth to build a concrete elevator to replace the wooden structure. Concrete
provided the surest form of fireproofing, was effective ay keeping the grain dry, and provided protection from rodents.