Fitzhugh-Watts Mill
East of State Line Road on 103rd Street and Indian Creek
Kansas City, Missouri
| A Brief History of Dallas, Missouri and The Fitzhugh/Watts Mill | |
|---|---|
| 1832 | Frenchmen George and Jonathan Fitzhugh construct a grist mill on the banks of Indian Creek. |
| 1842 | The mill, where grain is ground for area families and stores, is sold to James Hunter and Duke Simpson of Westport. |
| 1843 | James Nesmiths's diary of the Great Migration of 1843 indicates that "The Oregon Company met at the grove west of Fitzhugh's Mill on May 18." |
| 1852 | Anthony Watts buys land and a grist mill and saw mill from Hunter and Simpson for $400. |
| 1854 | Watts builds a farmhouse west of the mill site. |
| 1855 | Jim Bridger buys land in Dallas, Missouri, for his farm and home. |
| 1860 | The mill is remodeled and expanded to two stories, and the paddle wheel is enclosed. |
| 1865 | Stubbins Watts, son of Anthony, returns from the Civil War to run the family mill. |
| 1911 | Watts Mill cannot compete with Kansas City mills, which produce 10,800 barrels of flour using modern methods. Watts Mill stays in business by grinding buckwheat and cornmeal. |
| 1922 | Edgar Watts takes over mill operations after the death of his father, Stubbins. Dallas Amusement Park opens in a bend of the creek south of the mill. This business venture by Harold Britt of Chicago fails but brings electricity to Dallas. An electric motor is added to the mill's power train; the building begins to show decay. |
| 1923 | Edgar Watts marries Flora Boone, great-great granddaughter of Daniel Boone. |
| 1932 | Six thousand people attend the centennial celebration of the mill. |
| 1939 | The business, no longer commercially viable, is closed. |
| 1942 | Nine tons of cast iron and steel from the mill are donated as scrap for the war effort. |
| 1947 | Kroh Brothers Realty buys the prooperty. |
| 1949 | The old mill, now an eyesore and safety hazard, is torn down. |
| 1973 | Landowners donate three acresof the mill site to the City. |
| 1992 | Home of Bill Crotty, last building in the City of Dallas is razed |
| 1993 | The Sesquicentennial of the Great Migration of 1843 on the Oregon Trail is celebrated at Watts Mill Park |
Stubbins Watts
Millstone from Watts Mill
Watts Family plot
Pleasant Valley Cemetery
Overland Park, KS
Stubbins Watts
Born May 15, 1838
Died March 17, 1922
Pleasant Valley Cemetery
Overland Park, KS