It is a challenging, 75-step climb to the top of Bellville’s elevator (top photo). The four white windows at the very top of the building (bottom photo) shed light on Cary Carter as he examines some of the elevator’s 10 grain bins.

BELLVILLE’S GRAIN ELEVATOR—

In 1870 the Ohio Legislature passed the Cannon Act establishing the Ohio Agriculture and Mechanical College, later to become known as The Ohio State University. It is believed the elevator on Ogle St. was constructed that same year.

Although its role has changed in those past 137 years it remains an energetic retail business to this day.

Back then farmers would bring their grain to town in wagons. It would be dumped and chuted into the structure’s basement where it would be hauled aloft some five stories to 2,000 bushel wooden bins.

Chuck Ruhl, a now-retired employee of the elevator for more than 50 years, explained the original power for moving the grain was provided by donkey’s. They were tethered to a large wheel and would walk in circles inside the building turning gears that moved small hoppers in vertical columns to the bins far above.

Gary Carter, manager of the RFD elevator—as it is known today—points out a bin full or corn would weigh approximately 112,000 pounds. With all ten bins full more than one million pounds of grain could be stored up there.

Carter remembers the ageless building accomplishing that feat as recently as 10 years ago. He’s not willing to attempt that again.

Back then the grain would be mostly loaded onto train cars and shipped to distant markets. The railroad ceased running behind the mill in the early 1990s.

The elevator was originally owned by Isaac Gatton. It was purchased by the Farm Bureau in 1940 then changed hands to Landmark in 1965. It closed briefly in 1982 then reopened as Bell Grain. In 1986 it was bought by Don Clark and became known as Rural Farm Distributors.

A picture from 1925 shows a mixture of small trucks and horsedrawn wagons delivering potatoes to the elevator—a primary part of the business in those days. One old invoice from that period showed the Bellville Board of Education purchased 23 feet of 1 x 8 lumber for 44 cents.

The business was more diversified then.

Today the business caters largely to smaller, “hobby-type” farms and Four-H programs. Their number one seller is horsefeed. Wild bird seed is in second place.

Carter, who has been with the elevator more than 20 years worries about the aging building’s future. “In England” he points out, “they have tax incentives to fix and maintain their old buildings.”

“Here, if you try to restore an old building, the cost is prohibitive. Then, when you do make improvements, they increase your taxes,” he lamented.

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Some historical info from an old edition of The Bellville Star.