KENDRICK FLOUR MILLS
Date: Circa 1890s
Source Type: Photograph
Publisher, Printer, Photographer: Linda L. Hamley
Postmark: Not Applicable
Collection: Steven R. Shook
Remark: This photograph shows the Kendrick Flour Mills with its mill race/flume and spillway running across the Potlatch River. Today, George F. Brocke & Sons, a packager of garbanzo beans, lentils, and peas, operates a processing facility on the site of the flour mill.
The following quote has been extracted from a interview by Sam Schrager of Frank O. Brocke (b. 1906, d. 1977) on March 15, 1975:
There was a flour mill in Kendrick, very prominent flour mill, the Kendrick Flour Mill Company which had their own power; they made it from, their machinery was run by water. There was a flume there. Yeah, the made flour. But during the war [Great War], of course the war effort took all the floor; all the flour was earmarked for the government. And you took whatever there was left. And of course the flour you got was ground fast, not properly ground, it was very coarse -- gee, it was rough. But you got by. It was nourishing, that's all you wanted.
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The photographer of this photograph Linda L. Hamley. The 1900 Federal Census for the community of Kendrick lists L. Linda Hamley as a 37 year old and she is residing in the same household as her brother, P. Arthur Hemley, a 28 year old school teacher, her 88 year old father, William Hamley, and her 69 year old mother, Phillipa Hamley.
Linda L. Hamley was born February 27, 1863, in Ripon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, and died December 13, 1931, in Spokane, Spokane County, Washington. She is buried in the Kendrick Cemetery.
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The following news item appeared in the July 31, 1903, issue of The Kendrick Gazette:
Of Interest To Each of Us
Miss Hamley our photographer made a photo of H. P. Hull's establishment the first of the week. She also took a view of the high tower of the Vollmer Clearwater Co. tramway.
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The following news item appeared in the August 7, 1925, issue of the Spokane Daily Chronicle:
KENDRICK FLOUR MILLS BURNED
KENDRICK, Idaho, Aug. 6. -- Fire of unknown origin was discovered at 9 o'clock tonight in the top of the elevator of the Vollmer-Clearwater company and resulted in loss of the elevator, a flour mill and 150 barrels daily capacity and a warehouse. The loss is said to be about $75,000, with insurance of about $50,000.
The houses an barns of Edward Long, C. F. Byrne and R. B. Newton were destroyed, but the furniture and machinery in the buildings were saved. The loss on the residences and barns is about $10,000, with about $5000 insurance.
The Moscow fire department sent a chemical engine and crew to assist in controlling the flames and Lewiston was preparing to send men and equipment when the fire was subdued.
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The following news item appeared in the December 15, 1931, issue of the Spokane Daily Chronicle:
FUNERALS
HAMELY, Linda L. -- Age 65. Home was at W713½ 3d ave. She was a retired photographer. Lived in Spokane 15 years. Survived by two brothers, A. P. Hamley of Spokane and J. J. Hamley of Oregon, 1 niece and 1 nephew. The body will be shipped Wednesday to Kendrick, Idaho, by HAZEN & JAEGER. Funeral Wednesday at 2 p. m. at Kendrick, Idaho. Interment in the Kendrick cemetery.
Sources:
The Kendrick Gazette, Kendrick, Latah County, Idaho; July 31, 1903; Volume 12, Number , Page 32, Column 3. Column titled "Of Interest To Each of Us."
Kendrick-Juliaetta Centennial Committee. 1990. A Centennial History of the Kendrick-Juliaetta Area. Kendrick, Idaho: Kendrick-Juliaetta Centennial Committee. 246 p.
Spokane Daily Chronicle, Spokane, Spokane County, Washington; August 7, 1925; Volume 39, Number 275, Page 12, Column 7. Column titled "Kendrick Flour Mills Burned."
Spokane Daily Chronicle, Spokane, Spokane County, Washington; December 15, 1931; Volume 46, Number 74, Page 20, Column 3. Column titled "Funerals."
Transcript of Interview of Frank O. Brocke, March 15, 1975, by Sam Schrager. Oral History Project. Moscow, Idaho: Latah County Museum.
Copyright 2025. Some rights reserved. The associated text may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Steven R. Shook.
