History
Queen City Tannery Hide Storage Building (U.S. Government Bonded Warehouse)
Grange Milling Company
Kelly Milling Company G.L.F. (Agway) Feed Mill
Molly’s Mill Restaurant
The Mill Restaurant and Lounge
Era of different businesses
The Titusville Mill Restaurant and Distillery, Event Venue, Airbnb Established 2021
The Titusville Mill Restaurant and Distillery occupies a historic landmark constructed in 1899 for the Queen City Tannery, at that time America’s largest independently owned sole leather manufacturer. Later it was used as a feed mill from 1920 to 1987. The Queen City Tannery was founded in 1899 as a partnership of the Titusville Board of Trade (forerunner of today’s Chamber of Commerce), Lucius Beebe & Sons, and Samuel G. Maxwell. Land for the tannery site and materials for constructing buildings were furnished by the Board of Trade.
Tanning operations began in July 1890. Titusville area farmers and lumbermen supplied hemlock bark and chestnut wood used for manufacturing tannic acid in an on-site leach house, or extract plant.
Raw hides were imported from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and India. The finished sole leather was exported to boot and shoe firms in Britain, Germany, France, and Japan. Titusville became a Port of Entry for receiving foreign cattle and water buffalo hides. A large wood frame sheet iron building was erected at 221 South Monroe Street. A U.S. Customs Agent came by railroad car to inspect the hides.
The United States Leather Company purchased the Queen City Tannery, 1905. Ten years later in August 1915 the once-mammoth plant ceased operations.
During 1919-1920 most of the vacant tannery buildings were sold and demolished. Members of Titusville area Granges purchased the hide storage building and converted it into a feed mill to serve local farms. Grange members formed a co-operative company for saving money on feeds, grains, and farm supplies. These Crawford and Venango County farmers installed machinery for grinding and blending livestock feed in the former tannery structure.
From 1934 to 1947, James M. Kelly, a Titusville area farmer who was a supplier and shareholder of the Titusville Dairy Products Company (and involved with banking and a builder’s supply store-retail lumber business and millwork plant), owned the mill. Kelly operated two additional feed mills at Hydetown and Centerville, c. 1940.
The South Monroe Street feed mill alternated between Grange and individual ownership for over half a century. A large storage addition was built on to the mill in 1954. The feed mill also sold fertilizer, lime, chemicals, lawn and garden supplies, home merchandise, paint, tools, miscellaneous building supplies, etc. Products sold were received by truck and by the Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads. Agway, INC. (successor to the Grange League Federation) closed the Titusville feed grinding and blending facility in 1988.
Oil Valley Hospitality, Inc. purchased the vacant feed mill in 1994 and remodeled it into a restaurant-banquet hall-gift shop known as Milly’s Mill. Oil Valley Hospitality ceased operations in 2000. The facility reopened in 2003 as The Mill Restaurant & Lounge. Between 2003 and present time, owner hands have changed. In 2021, Franklin Street Dispensing Company was formed. The building was purchased and The Titusville Mill Restaurant and Distillery was introduced. Now, converted back into a full restaurant, The Titusville Mill offers casual fine dining in a rustic atmosphere with their own distilled libations. The ballroom has been converted into The Hadley Venue and is an exceptional place to host a wedding, reception, or both. The upstairs has been converted into an Airbnb, offering a unique, relaxed stay in the historic building. While preserving the history of the building, Franklin Street Dispensing Company will be updating and bringing more unique experiences to the Titusville area.