Best Preservation Project of the Year

Dick’s Mill

Dick’s Mill Restoration Project on Facebook • MRVSEA.com

DICK’S MILL HAD REACHED THE END OF ITS LIFE. Originally built in 1868, the mill in Cotton was founded by Adolph Dick and his brothers Peter, Chris, and Henry. It became a vital part of the community, providing residents with freshly milled flour and cornmeal. After Adolph’s death, the mill sat untouched for decades, the boards beginning to rot, the roof caving in, and the structure becoming almost completely engulfed by vines.

When Bob Painter, board member of the Missouri River Valley Steam Engine Association, received a call to transport a steam engine to the association’s property in Wooldridge, he hopped in his truck and made the trip to Cotton. Upon arriving, Bob saw what the steam engine was being housed in: an old, dilapidated mill. When he asked the property owner what he was planning to do with the mill, he explained that it was abandoned, and it was likely going to stay that way. Before thinking it through, Bob blurted out, “Would you donate it, too?” and the owner agreed.

“I just thought, ‘I can’t let this thing get destroyed,’ ” Bob recalls.

Though the other board members believed Bob’s rescue efforts of the mill were honorable, he faced skepticism. He was told that moving the structure to the fairgrounds in Wooldridge would be impossible and that no funding was available. For Bob, it didn’t matter. The obstacles became challenges to conquer.

“They told me to give up on the idea,” Bob says. Determined to save a piece of Missouri’s milling history, he began raising funds to place the concrete foundation and move the ginormous structure across the county. “The more they told me it wasn’t possible, the more I said I’m going to figure out a way to get it done,” he says.

Moving the mill was estimated to take two years. But with the generous support of several private donors, including contributions in the areas of finance, material, labor, and machinery, the mill was successfully relocated to the grounds of the Missouri River Valley Steam Engine Association in just six months.

Volunteers and skilled laborers from the Amish community in Prairie Home helped Bob dismantle the centuries-old mill and move it, piece by piece, 30 miles to the fairgrounds located in Wooldridge. A concrete foundation was laid, and donations continued to pour in. Local electricians, roofers, and heavy equipment operators volunteered their skills and materials to help bring the mill back to life. As of October 2025, over $160,000 had been raised for the mill’s restoration efforts. “Every time something backs me in a corner or something is not going right, somebody would show up and save me,” Bob says.

Walking inside the mill today, visitors can experience the deep scent of pine wafting from the newly placed red pine paneling. Looking upward from the main floor, the original hewn beams with old nails can be seen, still adorned with early 19th-century sawmill blade marks on the weather-washed wood. The milling equipment is also located on the main floor, where Bob has been delicately working on restoring each piece of equipment. These pieces can be viewed up close, and details like original hand-painted logos from the 1800s transport visitors back in time.

In the basement, Bob has been working on refining the moving parts of the hurst frame, an internal frame which holds the millstones, keeping them isolated from the rest of the building. Without the stabilization of the hurst frame, the grinding and vibrations from the stones could shake the peg beamed walls loose, and the mill would collapse.

To honor the structure, Bob went the extra mile and took every piece with him when he moved it. “The frame and all the timbers and the granary and everything are sitting on the original limestone foundation rocks that I brought in,” he says. The upstairs boasts a massive barn door on hinges, where equipment can be easily lifted in and out of the mill, as well as space for belts and pulleys to keep the millstones turning. Bob’s biggest goal is to provide an authentic mill experience where it feels as if the miller had just gone home and might return at any moment.

Dick’s Mill is projected to be back to working condition and open to the public by fall 2026, grinding with its original 42-and-48-inch stones.

Runner Up: Old Courthouse

11 North Fourth Street, St. Louis • ArchPark.org

Known for its grand Greek Revival design with chiseled stone, towering columns, and impressive dome, the Old Courthouse remains one of St. Louis’s most important historic landmarks. On May 3, 2025, the building reopened after its first comprehensive renovation since 1979, welcoming visitors back to explore new exhibitions and the beauty of its restored architecture. Its renovation included four new galleries downstairs and two mock courtrooms upstairs. The Old Courthouse museum is free and open daily from 8 am to 4:30 pm.

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This article was first published in the January 2026 issue of Missouri Life.