At Silver Dollar City—where time turns back and even cinnamon rolls come with frontier flair—Sullivan’s Mill continues to honor traditions, grinding up goodness the old-fashioned way.
90-year-old Frank Capps knows all about it. A love of history—and a last-minute decision to attend a job fair—brought him to The City 29 years ago. Hired as a miller, he soon became an expert at operating the water-powered mill, showing guests how the stones could grind thousands of pounds of corn into meal.
Frank loves sharing the backstory of the mill and water wheel which makes it all go. The wheel was built at Silver Dollar City and is simple but very efficient. It uses gravity and the weight of water to produce constant pressure on the off-side of the wheel, causing a constant twist on the axle. This, in turn, exerts power to turn the heavy machinery connected to the axle through belts and gears. That authentic 1880s milling machinery was acquired and moved to The City in 1961 from its original location on a Missouri stream. Sullivan’s Mill opened that same year, just one year after the theme park’s grand opening.
Back in Frank’s early days with The City, after perfecting his pitch about how the mill came to be, he rose up into a new role--faster than a fresh loaf of homemade bread.
“When one of our bakers retired, they asked me if I knew my way around a kitchen. I baked some bread for them, and it turned out pretty good,” he recalls with a chuckle. “I spent the next 15 years baking. Let me tell ya, I made a lot of dough!”
Frank was so good at goodies that he eventually became one of the park’s elite Master Craftsmen.
“I’ve just always loved what I’m doing here,” he smiles as he pours a scoopful of corn into the mill. “A lot of that love comes from visiting with people. Growing up, my folks said I never met a stranger. I still haven’t!”
Though he doesn’t bake much anymore, Frank still mills around the place—grinding, bagging and sharing stories with guests who’ve returned year after year to catch up over corn.
Sullivan’s Mill not only proudly pedals Frank’s fresh-ground cornmeal, but also serves up fresh cookies, muffins and pastries—all made with a smidge of pioneer spirit and a whole lot of heart. The shop is also home to the country’s largest selection of cookie cutters, along with cookbooks, kitchenware and specialty food mixes.
Frank is certain the aroma of freshly-baked bread will pull you into the shop in Midtown. And, when you do stop in, he hopes you’ll make your way over to his mill for a chat.
“There’s just something so special about this place. When you start here, you don’t want to leave. People ask me if I’m ever going to retire. I tell them I’m too old to retire now! When we start worrying about our age so much, we stop living.”
As Public Relations Manager for the Silver Dollar City Company, she is eager to tap into her journalism background to hunt down “heart tugs” to write about—those stories that celebrate…
