Hulston Grist Mill was established at the confluence of the Sac River and Turnback Creek in Dade County, Missouri, in 1840. Land records show that Ezekiel Madison Campbell, one of the original settlers of the southwest Missouri Ozarks, owned the mill site, and it is assumed that Campbell constructed the original mill. At this time, the Ozarks was still very much a wilderness and the grist mill served as a focal point for a rural dispersed pioneer society. In this regard, the mill served both an economic and social function in the society in the mid 1800's. John K. Hulston, great-grandson of one of the early owners related in his history of the area something of a social and informational function of the mill:
"Men came on horseback or horses and mules pulled wagons up to the loading dock where menfolk paused to converse...While the grinding progressed the men talked of crops, livestock, fishing, politics, and weather. Finally, they lifted the bags into their wagon or buggy or lowered a bag across the back of their mount and took their leave for the journey home."
In 1848, Henry H. Pemberton bought the mill from his father-in-law, Ezekiel Campbell, and ran it until 1859 when it was sold to Henry Engleman. Two years later, the mill was to play an important role in saving Missouri for the Union during the American Civil War. It is not known whether the Engleman family was secessionist or Union in their political beliefs, but having recently arrived from Virginia, there is a possibility that the mill operator may have joined those millers who refused to grind flour for the Union Army under the command of Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon.
In any case, the Dade County Home Guard was called upon to furnish flour for Lyon's army which found itself one hundred twenty-five miles from the supply terminal encamped in Springfield, Missouri. Without food supplies from Hulston Mill and other area grist mills, Lyon's army might have been forced to retreat northward to the established supply lines; instead, Union troops engaged the Confederates at Wilson's Creek on August 10, 1861, and claimed victory to the second battle of the Civil War.
Engleman operated the mill for another ten years following the Civil War and then sold it to James Christopher Hulston in 1875. Shortly thereafter an assortment of other economic enterprises, a post office, general store, drug store, hotel, livery stable, blacksmith's shop and in more recent years a tomato cannery were established and recognized by the postal guide as Hulston, Missouri.
The mill was modernized by John Christopher Hulston, son of "Chris" Hulston, in 1892, and was converted to a full roller mill with an auxiliary steam engine to provide power in times of drought. The Hulston family owned and operated the mill until 1897 when John Christopher Hulston was murdered. The Hulstons then leased the mill until 1906 when P.G. Speiser purchased it. In 1912 the mill was sold to the Nixon family. The Nixons sold the mill, in 1914, to Samuel Farmer. Mr. Farmer enlarged the mill to three sets of rolls with a capacity of 25 barrels of flour a day. Mr. Farmer operated the mill longer than any one owner at a consecutive time until 1941. Other owners include Baily Floyd (1941-1942), Turrant Hickey (1943-1946), John Pemberton Nixon and Arthur Frank Nixon, Jr. (1947-1964) and L.E. Meyer (1965-1967).
The operational history of Hulston Mill, spanning one hundred twenty-seven years, came to an end in 1967 as the result of the construction of a multi-purpose reservoir project on the Sac River. One of the very few grist mills of its type still in operating condition in southwest Missouri became subject to inundation by the waters of Stockton Lake. A symbol of the sturdy pioneer era, Hulston Mill ground it last flour on June 25, 1967. Efforts to save this landmark from destruction were sponsored by the County Court, Historical Society, the Park Board, and the citizens and the media of Dade County. Through their efforts, the mill was moved to a fifty acre tract one mile to the southeast of the original site where it is proposed to serve as the focal point for a heritage park featuring the reconstructed Hulston Mill, Missouri, circa 1850.
