This past month, I had occasion to attend a check presentation recognizing a $99,000 Attraction Development Grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce to support preservation of the Ye Old Mill, one of the Fair’s most iconic and historic attractions. The grant amount is not pocket change and will give the Fair a boost in its efforts to raise more than $1 million to fund new boats used to transport fairgoers.
According to historical data, Ye Old Mill opened for business in 1915 to mark the opening of the third annual Kansas State Fair.
It was near Capper House, (which now includes Capper Cooperative Park) having reportedly opened a year earlier, 200 feet to the south of the Mill.
Fair visionaries had a dream for an amusement ride nearby consisting of boats moving along a channel of water powered by a mill wheel.
Actually, Ye Old Mill saw its origin in Riverside Park, 40 blocks south of the Fairgrounds, where it was the main attraction of an early day Hutchinson amusement park. Interest in the rides waned and it was closed.
A group of hearty pioneers had an idea it could be reborn as a State Fair attraction and it was carted up and moved north to the new Fairgrounds. Excavators dug a new tunnel with built-wood sides for the mill with a canvas cover overhead.
In 1923, the State Fair Board authorized funding for concrete walls and a wooden roof. In 1935, the original boats were replaced by ones manufactured from steel.
A 1936 story published in the State Fair Journal reported 25,000 fairgoers rode the ride, a figure identical to statistics compiled in 1915.
In a 2015 story published in the Hutchinson Magazine, Dr. Carter File, then President of Hutchinson Community College (HCC), recalled riding the boat as a young child from Beloit. “One of my first visits to the fair, I boarded Ye Old Mill for my one and only ride,” File said. “Soon, everything became dark and there were things that came out of the ceiling to touch me. Let’s just say it scared the dickens out of me.”
One of my first visits to the fair, I boarded Ye Old Mill for my one and only ride. Soon, everything became dark and there were things that came out of the ceiling to touch me. Let’s just say it scared the dickens out of me.”
Dr. Carter File, then President of Hutchinson Community College, Hutchinson Magazine, 2015
The late Harland Priddle grew up on a farm near Haven and fondly remembered a 1930s visit to the fair. “I was very young and it was exciting to ride one of the Fair’s top rides,” Priddle said. “As the ride started, we wondered when those scary things would drop down in our face.”
The Kansas State Fair has a proud history and Ye Old Mill has withstood the test serving fairgoers for more than a century and is deserving of preservation.
-Richard Shank
Kansas State Fair Ambassador
Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation Board Member
About the Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation
The Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation (KFF) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Founded in 2003, KFF’s mission is to further the renovation, construction, preservation and beautification of the Kansas State Fairgrounds with a vision of inspiring excellence and understanding of Kansas agriculture, industry and culture through the Kansas State Fair, activities, educational programs and opportunities. The Foundation exists to enrich the unforgettable memories and traditions people experience only at the Kansas State Fair and at the 500+ events on the Fairgrounds year-round.
