Detroit Sugar Mill

Description:
In 1899, several Detroit businessmen gathered to discuss building a mill for the production of sugar from beets. Thirty cents per row was paid for weeding the beets that were later turned into molasses and sugar. Farmers brought their beets to the mill where they were weighed and tested and ground to sugar. Some farmers produced poorer quality beets due to the soil condition. This angered some farmers because they were paid based on the saccharine content of the beets; poorer soil yielded lower saccharine content. That caused some farmers to reduce acreage devoted to beet production. In 1904, Manager Parker and mill representatives implored farmers to subscribe more acreage for beet production. The pleas did not help and the mill, in only five short years, was closed. The Detroit Sugar Mill was torn down in 1906; some of the bricks were used to build homes in Rochester. Today, Halbach Field, Jaycee Field, and the Rochester Public Works occupy the site where the Detroit Sugar Mill once stood. A Lively Town: 152 Years in Rochester, the Rochester Centennial Commission, 1969
Notes:
Oakland County Historical Resources hosts digitized materials from Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm and many other local cultural heritage organizations in Oakland County, Michigan.
Data Provider:
Oakland County Historical Resources and Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm
Place:
Oakland County, Michigan
Subject Topic:
Buildings
Format:
Photo/slide
Rights:
1969 Rochester Centennial Commission
URL:
http://oaklandcountyhistory.org/knowvation/app/consolidatedSearch/#autologin/guest/lb_document_id=6462