History

Maker of White Billows Flour
407 E Louisiana St

One of the earliest mills was the Collin County Mill and Elevator Company located just outside of McKinney. It was established in 1892 by W. C. Burrus and son, John Perry Burrus. John Perry along with E.W. Kirkpatrick co-owned the Collin County Mill by the turn of the 20th century. The mill burned in 1899 and was rebuilt as the Burrus Mill & Elevator. The mill grew and moved to new facilities located at 407 E. Louisiana St. The mill remained in operation from 1914 until the 1970s, producing White Billows Flour.[1]

The history of the Flour Mill is significant because of its association with the local cotton and grain industry, which was the basis for the town’s commercial development. The City of McKinney contributed significantly in making Texas one of the nation’s largest cotton and grain producing states in the nation. The Burrus Mills were the largest flour operation in the southwest.[2]

Today the Flour Mill has been renovated and is the Mill at East McKinney. It serves as an events venue and an office space.[3]

300 blk. Throckmorton

Perry Burrus built a cotton cleaning factory, Burrus Cotton Company, on the east side of McKinney. This plant would clean the cotton after ginning but before compressing, reducing the amount of time the cotton would spend in the carding room being cleaned of dirt, leaves, stems, bugs and other materials. Since the textile mill included a carding room for cleaning cotton after the bales were opened, the construction of a separate cleaning factory demonstrates that the textile mill was not using all the cotton produced in Collin County.[1]

The McKinney Cotton Compress Company began operations by 1892, boosting the local cotton industry. It originally stood on block 47 of the original town site, in the 400 block of East Hunt Street and was serviced by the Houston and Texas Central and Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroads.

The company abandoned its original site in 1914 and relocated to the 300 block of North Throckmorton Street. The new site provided significantly more space and allowed for expansion. The property now is a sprawling six-acre complex that includes the compress, warehouses, a water tower, and offices.[2]

This massive complex includes a series of adjoining warehouses that were used to store cotton bales. They are of frame construction and are sheathed with sheets of corrugated metal. Gable roof, sometimes with industrial clerestories, cap the structures.

It’s continuous operation since that time illustrates the significant role that cotton production and processing has had to the growth and development of the city.[3]

Today the warehouses are utilized by different companies but a future multi-family development will be erected on this site.

400 E. Louisiana

Also know as the Hill – Webb Grain Elevator/McKinney Grain/McKinney Feed and Grain

The grain elevator located at 400 E. Louisiana is one of the oldest buildings in McKinney and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has housed many businesses since it was constructed around 1892.

Located across from the old flour mill, east of square and near the train depot, it opened as the Hill and King Grain Company by Ben Hill and C.M. King.[1] In 1906, J.W. Webb, a prominent citizen, bought into the business and it became the Hill-Webb Grain Company. It was in continuous operation until a spectacular fire razed it in January of 2008. The elevator was made of heart of pine lumber from East Texas, which was transported on wagons to McKinney.[2] In the 1930’s it was transformed into a feed mill known as the McKinney Elevator Co. It was in continuous operation until a spectacular fire razed it in January of 2008.[3]

McKinney’s cotton-processing structures played a significant role in the town’s history and development during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Much of the area’s vast agricultural potential was realized through the construction and operation of these facilities. Their establishment aided the town’s commercial development because area farmers came to McKinney to sell their crops and then purchased goods at downtown stores. These property types also laid the foundation for the town’s industrial development and supported the establishment of a textile mill.[4]