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Overview

In 1925, the Globe Grain and Milling Company operated this milling complex at 907 East 3rd Street in Downtown Los Angeles, CA. At this time, Globe Mills owner Will E. Keller operated seven flour mills in three states, including ones in San Francisco, CA, Colton, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Sacramento, CA (1913-1914), Ogden, UT, El Paso, TX (the fifth to open in 1910), and San Diego, CA.

Building History

This flour milling concern began as the McDonald Company in the port city of Wilmington, CA, in the 1890s. The firm prospered producing animal feed, and its owners, Edward Nathaniel McDonald (1832-1899) and Will E. Keller (1868-1935) formed the McDonald Grain and Milling Company to manufacture flour in Los Angeles, CA. Following McDonald's death in 1899, Keller rebranded the concern the Globe Grain and Milling Company in 1902.

The Pillsbury Company of Minneapolis, MN, purchased Globe Grain and Milling in 07/1940. The Los Angeles Times said of this sale: "Globe Grain & Milling, incorporated in 1902, has become a leader in California milling, with mills at Los Angeles, San Francisco and Sacramento, as well as feed plants and other properties employing a total of over 500 people in California. Besides the California plants, Globe operates a large flour mill at Ogden, Utah. It is understood that the Globe Grain personnel will be continued virtually intact." (See "Globe Grain Sale Ratified," Los Angeles Times, 07/17/1940, p. 14.) Pillsbury's businesses proved profitable in fiscal 1941-1942, with the firm earning $1,040,082 after charges and taxes, earning $1.89 a share on outstanding capital stock. (See "Pillsbury Flour Profits Increase," Los Angeles Times, 07/23/1942, p. 16.) It utilized this facility into the mid-1960s, before vacating it.

Building Notes

In 1917, the Globe Mill produced the most 196-pound barrels per day, 800, of any flour mill in Los Angeles. Mills in the city could produce 2,150 barrels per day at this time, with the Sperry Flour Company producing 500, Los Angeles Milling Company (owned in 1917 by Globe Grain and Milling Company, 400), Capital Milling Company (300), and the Great Western Milling Company (150). (See The Miller's Almanack and Year-Book of the Trade, [Minneapolis, MN: Northwestern Miller, 1917], p. 127.)

The Globe Grain and Milling Company sponsored the Globe-Ben Hur Spanish Patio outside of the Food Building at the California Pacific International Exposition in 1935.

PCAD id: 21706