By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
The H.D. Lee Flour Mills sign that was formerly on top of the grain elevator silo in north Salina has been designated as an historic signage.
The sign, which had been atop the "Mural at the Mill" grain elevator silos on 343 N. Santa Fe Avenue for decades, was removed back on August 2021.
Read more: A sign of the times: Historic H.D. Lee sign removed for refurbishing
It was removed for the purpose of being refurbished and illuminated before making its return.
Now, it will be designated as historic with two signs.
The proposal that was approved on Monday involved two separate sign support structures.
According to the city, one sign will be mounted on the north lower head house of the grain elevator complex with its sign face pointing north, and the other will be mounted on the south lower head house with its sign face pointing south.
This configuration makes the signs readable to traffic on North Santa Fe Avenue traveling in both directions. The two-sign configuration also reflects the reorientation of the sign faces from their original east-west orientation (facing the railroad corridor) to a north-south orientation.
The signs will be placed sometime in the summer of 2026, but no exact date has been set, according to City Manager Jacob Wood.
Henry D. Lee came to Salina in the late 1880s and founded the H.D. Lee Milling Co. in 1889. The mill complex was then built in 1899.
He was known as major force in the community’s commercial activity and economic growth.
He founded the H.D. Lee Flour Mill, H.D. Lee Mercantile, Lee Hardware, and the Kansas Ice and Cold Storage Company.
H.D. Lee Flour Mills had an elevator storage capacity of 750,000 bushels, making it among the largest of Salina’s flour mills.