Collin County Mill and Elevator Company

This industrial complex at 407 E. Louisiana in McKinney, Texas, sits just east of the downtown business district on about 3.1 acres. Its two- and four-story load-bearing brick mill dates to 1914 and has a flat roof, steel-sash casement windows and large multi-paned industrial windows, with stepped brick detailing at the cornice. A brick office building and warehouse, also from about 1914, share its detailing. Concrete grain elevators were added about 1927, while newer silos do not contribute to the historic character. The business began in the 1870s, when W.C. Burrus and his son J. Perry Burrus ran a flour mill outside town. In 1892 they bought the Merchants Roller Mill, established in 1885, and merged the operations as the Collin County Mill and Elevator Co. The mill became a feed mill in the 1930s, and the Burruses became leaders in southwestern milling. The plant closed in the 1970s, and the site is now listed as vacant or used for storage. It is regarded as McKinney's best example of industrial architecture.