
Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum
LINDSBORG - The Lindsborg Old Mill and Swedish Heritage Museum is closing out the books on a quarter-million-dollar grant that permitted impressive improvements.
Adam Pracht, Marketing and Communications Director, said that in the two years since receiving the grant, the museum has made significant strides in terms of its appearance, historical restoration, safety and security, and ADA accessibility.
“The results were transformative. The museum buildings look so much better, historical treasures have been preserved, and we’ve made many necessary upgrades,” he said. “The list of everything it accomplished at the museum is nothing short of astonishing.”
The museum was one of just 18 recipients out of 228 applicants to receive the tourism grant from Kansas Commerce in 2023. The grant was an effort by the State to boost Kansas tourism with remaining federal COVID relief dollars.
Located next to the Smoky Hill River, the museum is owned by an independent private nonprofit and consists of 10 historic buildings across 15 acres. It is home to the 1898 Smoky Valley Roller Mills and the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion (both on the National Register of Historic Places).
The achievements made possible by the SPRINT grant include:
· Installation of a new alarm system in the main museum building, which houses historic archives and most of the museum’s artifacts.
· Main entrance improvements, which included an ADA-accessible sidewalk, a new solid handrail with solar-powered built-in lights, and updated landscaping.
· Exterior paint and a new roof for the West Kentuck School. (Used 1903-1952, this one-room schoolhouse was originally southeast of Lindsborg and is the last school of its kind in the area.)
· Exterior paint and a new roof for the Academy Building. (Built in 1879, this was the first public school building in the area and was later used as a Bethany College classroom.)
· New exterior paint for the Lindsborg Union Pacific Train Depot (Completed under Kansas Pacific in 1879, the depot served the area until 1972. It was moved to museum grounds in 1974.)
· Full restoration of the original 1908 Dempster Windmill located on the museum’s Heritage Square.
· A new Old Mill courtyard metal fence designed and created by Lindsborg Local Lloyd Rohr that depicts scenes of the historical Old Mill, symbols of wheat and the Swedish seal, and the 1904 World’s Fair Swedish Pavilion. It is more secure than the chain link fence and more aesthetic.
· Tree removal and trimming on the museum grounds and campgrounds, creating more safety for museum guests and less risk of damage from falling limbs or trees.
· Museum front porch repairs, including porch roof support columns that were failing.
· New guttering on the main museum building, which means better drainage and less risk of water damage to the building.
· Tuckpointing (masonry repair) of the Old Mill Powerhouse brick walls, as well as a new roof and guttering for the building – both of which were rusting and starting to fail. The building houses the electric motor that powers the 1898 Smoky Valley Roller Mills during Millfest (annually on the first Saturday in May.)
· Upgrades to the Old Mill heating system. The updates allow more control of the system and cost savings.
· A modern and fully reworked back-gallery exhibition on Lindsborg history and the immigrant experience.
Aubrey Wheeler, Executive Director, said the award of the grant preceded her start at the museum, but she’d seen the museum’s state as a guest before it received the SPRINT Grant.
“It’s almost like an entirely different place,” she said. “The difference is wonderful, and we can’t thank Kansas Commerce enough for selecting us for the grant.”
The Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum celebrates and preserves the pioneering spirit of the Smoky Valley by educating, entertaining, and building community across generations so that history comes to life. With special emphasis on the period from 1870 to 1910, the museum includes two buildings on the National Registry of Historic Places and extensive archives and artifact collections. The museum seeks to honor the rich story of Lindsborg and its people.
Learn more about the museum at www.oldmillmuseum.org.