A History of the Mother’s Best Flour Mill in North Omaha

Standing as a massive concrete sentinel on North 16th Street for more than a century, a grain elevator complex once known for the Mother’s Best Flour brand is more than just an industrial relic — it’s a monument to Omaha’s era as a global titan of milling. This site isn’t just a landmark, but the home of an internationally famous brand that helped put the city on the map. This is a history of the Nebraska Consolidated Mills and Mother’s Best Flour in North Omaha

The Original Mill on North 16th Street

The original Omaha Mill on North 16th Street might have looked like this, according to AI.

Originally located at 1513 Sherman Avenue, today the building at 1521 North 16th Street is a large concrete grain elevator and some brick structures around it. However, more than a 140 years ago it was home to a wooden mill along the Belt Line Railway bringing grain into the city for processing from the farms surrounding Omaha.

According to several sources, this was the first flour mill in Omaha and remained the city’s only mill for several years. Located on the Missouri Pacific Railroad and near the North Yards, the mill had a five story elevator and small manufacturing plant attached to it, all sitting on a stone foundation.

Inside, the mill showcased the best of late-Victorian era engineering. The structure was built with solid live oak and custom iron from Paxton & Vierling. Its mechanical heart was a steam engine powering advanced machinery. In 1888, the mill made 400 barrels of flour per day.

The following history is why it was referred to as “one of the most historically significant industrial milling assets still in operation in the United States” before it was closed permanently in late 2025.

Starting as the Omaha Milling Company

This is an 1888 ad from an industry newspaper that said "The only wheat flour manufacturers in Omaha" of the Omaha Mill on N. 16th St. — This is an 1888 ad from an industry newspaper that said “The only wheat flour manufacturers in Omaha” of the Omaha Mill on N. 16th St.

In the 1880s, North 16th Street (then called Sherman Avenue) was transitioning from being a row of country estates to becoming a massively busy, active urban street. The Omaha Milling Company established a vital processing hub along Sherman at Charles Street. It was the first company to harness the proximity of the North Yards rail lines, and turned the Great Plains’ wheat into a global commodity.

In late 1887, Omaha Milling and Elevator Company was built, officially beginning operations on January 1, 1888. Called a “valuable addition to Omaha enterprise,” the original mill “the only wheat flour mill in Omaha” for several years.

The building had a rear entrance that connected directly to the Belt Line Railway, the Missouri Pacific, and Northwestern tracks, allowing it to fill and empty rail cars fast and efficiently. At that point, North 16th was a wide cobblestone street and Omaha’s horse-drawn railroad operated a block away on North 17th Street. Nearby, other industrial sites were opening, as well as construction of working class neighborhoods in nearby areas.

Becoming Part of the Updike Empire

Located at 1015 Sherman Avenue in North Omaha, this was the Updike Mill. This authentic 1910s pic has been colorized with AI. It shows the mille after it was bought by Updike Milling Company.

In 1907, this site became a cornerstone of the Updike empire. Nelson B. Updike (1871-1948), a powerful businessman focused on the grain and lumber businesses, recognized early on that the intersection of the North Yards and the 16th Street thoroughfare was the perfect place for high-capacity milling.

This is a 1913 image of Updike's Flour produced at the North Omaha mill. — This is a 1913 image of Updike’s Flour produced at the North Omaha mill.

Buying the Omaha Milling Company in a major business deal, Updike integrated the North Omaha mill it into a huge network of country elevators and storage facilities across the country. Establishing North Omaha as his “terminal elevator,” the Updike Mill became capable of handling millions of bushels of wheat. This shifted the North Omaha mill’s purpose from being a local mill to becoming a powerhouse of industrial integration.

While Updike Milling operated the mill, Omaha climbed the ranks to become the second-largest milling center in the world. During this era, the Updike facility was an anchor on the eastern edge of the Near North Side and North 16th Street became essential for Omaha’s economic power.

Introducing Nebraska Consolidated Mills

This is an image of the Nebraska Consolidated Mill on N. 16th St. circa 1922. Image courtesy of the Durham Museum colorized with AI.

This is an image of the Nebraska Consolidated Mill on N. 16th St. circa 1922.

Workers in the Nebraska Consolidated Mill on N. 16th St. circa 1932. Image courtesy of Durham Museum.

Trucks at the Nebraska Consolidated Mill on N. 16th St. circa 1932. Image courtesy of Durham Museum.

This is the Ardent Mills on N. 16th St. in the 1920s when it was operated by Nebraska Consolidated Mills. Pic courtesy of the Durham Museum.

A new company called Nebraska Consolidated Mills took over in 1922. By then, the mill had been transformed into one of the most significant agricultural facilities in the United States. It was from this site that the new company launched household brands like Mother’s Best Flour and Duncan Hines.

Nebraska Consolidated Mills was the result of a merger of several smaller Nebraska mills, and in 1922, their headquarters were moved to Omaha because of the city’s status as a primary rail hub and grain market.

In December 1931, the Nebraska Consolidated Mills Company flour mill on North 16th Street was destroyed by an explosion and fire. Awarded a contract in February 1932, prolific Omaha architects John Latenser and Sons were the designers of the new structures, which cost $150,000 to build. They increased the production at the facility by more than 30% and modernized storage practices, which ensured future explosions shouldn’t happen. Made of reinforced concrete, the new mill was designed to be five stories tall on 16th, with a sixth floor along the railroad tracks. There was a new single story packing room built to connect the brick building to the mill.

This is an announcement of a new building at the North Omaha mill 1931. — This is an announcement of a new building at the North Omaha mill 1932.

The site was expanded into a huge terminal elevator and milling complex with trains coming in from across the Midwest for processing. This allowed Nebraska Consolidated Mills to store millions of bushels of wheat and process it into flour onsite, and the company became incredibly competitive.

Introducing Mother’s Best

Mother's Best History pic courtesy of the Durham Museum — In 1954, this crowd of Omaha businessmen hopped onto a Missouri Pacific Railroad train at the Webster Street Station to tour the Belt Line Railway as a promotion for the space available to build along the tracks around town. Notice the Storz Brewery smokestack and Mother’s Best Flour ad in the background. Pic courtesy of the Durham Museum

By the mid-20th century, the North 16th Street facility became most famous for producing Mother’s Best Flour. Originally started by Updike Milling in 1922, Mother’s Best Flour became a Midwestern household staple under Nebraska Consolidated Mills. Representing a shift toward high-quality, “clean” industrial milling, the flour guaranteed customers it was untouched by human hands. In the 1950s, the brand achieved national fame by sponsoring the Mother’s Best Flour Show featuring country legend Hank Williams. While the radio program broadcasted from Nashville, the premium all-purpose flour was the pride of Omaha’s “utilitarian cathedrals”. The Mother’s Best Flour brand’s success gave Nebraska Consolidated Mills the money to innovate new products like Duncan Hines.

This is a 1932 image of Mother's Best Flour bag produced at the North Omaha mill. — This is a 1932 image of Mother’s Best Flour bag produced at the North Omaha mill.

For more than one generation, Mother’s Best Flour’s iconic packaging was a staple in Omaha kitchens.

In the 1950s, country music legend Hank Williams was featured on the Mother’s Best Flour Show, a radio program. While the show was based in Nashville, the flour being sold was the product of the North Omaha mill.

Innovation and the Birth of Conagra

This is the original Duncan Hines logo. The Duncan Hines brand was launched in the North Omaha mill.

A pivotal moment in American food history happened at the North Omaha mill in 1949. That year, a famous restaurant critic innovated and launched the Duncan Hines brand at the North 16th Street mill.

Duncan Hines (1880-1959) was became an entrepreneur when he was where Nebraska Consolidated Mills developed the revolutionary Duncan Hines cake mix. This “value-added” success transformed the company into a food giant.After being sold to Procter & Gamble in 1956, the brand eventually came back to the Conagra Brands umbrella. Because of this, Nebraska Consolidated Mills began experimenting with new products to move beyond just flour, and the success of these value-added products transformed the company.

This is a newspaper clipping from the 1973 Conagra Mill fire on N. 16th St.

In 1971, Nebraska Consolidated Mills changed its name to ConAgra, and the North Omaha mill was its birthplace. The next year, ConAgra bought its next door neighbor building, the former Storz Brewery, which sat north of the mill for its entire existence and had closed permanently the year before. The newspaper reported, “Conagra bought the building because it was an ‘excellent buy’ and is adjacent to one of the company’s flour mills and its central laboratory.” However, they had “no immediate plans to use the building” and it ended up sitting until it rotted and was demolished in the 1990s.

A fire struck the mill in 1973, but was stopped.

Shifting focus from milling to food production, the company acquired major brands like Banquet and Chef Boyardee. In 1990, Conagra moved to a controversial new riverfront campus in Omaha, which required the demolition of the historic Jobbers Canyon in downtown Omaha. In 2016, the corporation abandoned its headquarters in Omaha.

The Site Today: A Fading Industrial Legacy

This is Ardent Mills at 1521 N. 16th St. Its future is uncertain.

In the late 20th century, as Conagra shifted its focus toward processed foods and relocated its headquarters, the milling operations were sold. In 2014, Conagra entered a joint venture with Cargill, and CHS to start Ardent Mills, based in Denver and using the North Omaha mill among others.

After using it for 11 years, in November 2025, Ardent Mills announced the permanent closure of the mill and its future is unknown.

This is east side of Ardent Mills at 1521 N. 16th St. Pics from Google Maps.

The elevator remains one of the tallest structures in North Omaha. Its massive concrete silos are a great example of early 20th-century industrial architecture. When we look at the mill today, we aren’t just looking at concrete; we are looking at the birthplace of a global giant and an arrow pointing in the direction of Omaha’s role in feeding the world. Its also the birthplace of a major international brand still going today.

Although the Mother’s Best Mill was essentially the cradle of Conagra, which would become one of the largest food companies in the world, and the birthplace of the Duncan Hines brand, today it has no historical recognition from the community.

Maybe that will change in the future!

Timeline of the Mother’s Flour Mill

This is the Mother's Best Flour mill, North 16th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska — This is the Mother’s Best Flour mill, North 16th Street, North Omaha, Nebraska. Image courtesy of the Durham Museum.

Throughout the decades, the mille at North 16th Street and Charles Street in North Omaha had several major events. Sometimes they were major moments that tracked with Omaha’s rise as a global milling leader, and other times they were local dates that mattered. They include:

1887: The founding of the Omaha Milling Company. Built as a state-of-the-art five-story steam mill, the mill officially opened on January 1, 1888.
1907: The Updike Milling Company was founded and bought the facility. The capacity of the facility was immediately expanded.
1922: Nebraska Consolidated Mills bought with the Updike Mill, leading to the company to move its corporate headquarters from Grand Island to Omaha that same year.
1931: The original wood mill exploded and burned down.
1932: The mill was rebuilt as the concrete structure it is today.
1977: ConAgra was established when Nebraska Consolidated Mills officially changed its name. They kept running the original 16th Street site.
1981: It was converted from bakery flour to a durum mill
1996: It was converted back to bakery flour production.
2014: Conagra entered a joint venture with Cargill, and CHS to start Ardent Mills, based in Denver and using the North Omaha mill among others.
2016: Conagra headquarters moved from Omaha permanently.
2025: The mill was officially closed by Ardent, ending more than 140 years of milling at this site.

Buildings

These are satellite images of the historic N. 16th St. Mill in North Omaha, Nebraska.

The mill on North 16th Street at 1521 North 16th Street in North Omaha isn’t merely the tall granary standing over the community. Instead, its one of several structures located at the one-acre site that have been there for a long time. They include…

Office building—Built in 1937, its a 5,000 square foot building with a single story and a basement.
Manufacturing Mill—Built in 1932 from designs by John Latenser and Sons, this is a 45,000 square foot building. The mill structure has been added to several times, maybe as many as 10 times. There is a loading dock facing the railroad tracks made of steel and concrete.
Grain Elevator—With 557,000 square feet, this is the largest and tallest structure at the site.
Brick Manufacturing Buildings: Surrounding the concrete silos are several brick structures that historically housed the small manufacturing plant and packing rooms.
Packing Room: A specific single-story addition was constructed in 1932 to connect the primary brick buildings directly to the milling tower, streamlining the movement of flour from processing to packaging.

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Elsewhere Online

“Mother’s Best Flour Show” staring Hank Williams, a happy go lucky troubadour who sang good morning to Nashville over coffee every day during 1949-51.
“How Hank Williams Recorded for Mother’s Best Flour” by Brian Turpen