Church - Sperry Mill and Mill Ditch - Fresno, CA
Posted by: fresgo
N 36° 44.330 W 119° 47.256
11S E 251096 N 4069524
Located west of the Water Tower in Eaton Plaza, Fresno, CA
Waymark Code: WM4YGH
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 10/13/2008
Views: 6
The Flour Mill is gone as is the Chrysler Dealer all that's left is the marker! When the Sperry Mill was built it was on the eastern boundary of the city of Fresno and considered the "sticks" What the marker doesn't reflect was the original name of the mill was Champion Mills.
The marker reads.
S"ITE OF
CHURCH-SPERRY MILL & MILL DITCH
BUILT IN 1883 BY MOSES J. CHURCH, FRESNO'S FIRST
FLOUR MILL OPERATED WITH FANCHER CREEK
WATER RUN THROUGH MILL DITCH AND DOWN
FRESNO STREET. THE ORIGINAL WOODEN STRUCTURE
WAS REPLACED IN 1892 BY A BRICK BUILDING AND
WAS SOLD TO THE SPERRY FLOUR COMPANY IN 1893.
THE MILL OPERATED UNTIL 1927 WHEN IT WAS
REMODELED AS AN AUTOMOBILE SHOWROOM. AFTER
MUCH LITIGATION, THE MILL DITCH, A FOUL-SMELLING
STREAM, WAS FILLED IN BY IRATE CITIZENS ONE
SUNDAY IN 1867 AND STEAM ENGINES WERE USED
THEREAFTER. THE BUILDING WAS RAZED IN 1960 TO
MAKE WAY FOR FRESNO'S CIVIC CENTER.
PLAQUE DEDICATED BY
JIM CHAPTER NO. 1852, E CLAMPUS VITUS
OCTOBER 29, 1960"