W5539 and W5565 County Road MM

Summary

Oehler Mill Complex
W5539 and W5566 County Highway MM, Town of Shelby, La Crosse County
Dates of contributing buildings: 1862-1907

Valentine and Gottfried Oehler, recent immigrants from Germany, built the Oehler flour mill in 1862. This mill is now a rare example of what was once a common and highly important resource: the rural flour and grist mill. The current sandstone and brick mill is the second mill the brothers constructed at this location on Mormon Creek. The first, constructed as a sawmill in 1857, was converted into a flour and grist mill in 1858. The Oehler Mill closed in 1918.

The new mill's success allowed the brothers to construct new houses. Gottfried built a house just north of the mill in 1884; Valentine built a house just to the south around 1882. Both of these Italianate style houses are of brick furnished by the Mormon Coulee Brick Yard, which had been established less than a mile to the north in 1881 and which continued producing brick until 1958.

These buildings are privately owned and are not open to the public. Please respect the rights and privacy of the residents.

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