When grain milling technology began to change, new owner Oliver Collins responded with Yankee ingenuity. Collins arrived at the Mill in 1919 with his wife Ethel, and children, John Alfred, Mary, and Horace. Without destroying the Colonial-era power train system or the 1820s upgrades, Oliver installed machinery that allowed him to successfully operate a 20th century business.

An amazingly resourceful man, he ran the gristmill, a sawmill, a cider press, metal working shop, barbershop, and lawnmower repair shop, all powered by the same water wheel he used to mill animal feed.

In 1933, at the urging of his wife Ethel, Oliver also took the exam to become a postmaster. While he worked with the heavy machinery, Ethel and their daughter Mary ran the Anselma Post Office. These enterprises supported the family through the dark years of the Great Depression and enabled the Mill to retain much of its Colonial and 19th century character.

Collins’ second-floor office and much of his machinery remain intact, and his spirit and ingenuity live on at the Mill at Anselma.

Collins documents, photographs, artifacts

Collins machinery

The Collins Family