The Mill has had various uses over the decades, including as the focal point of lima beans, tons of which passed through The Mill on their way out of town during World War I.Hengehold noted that a broom was inadvertently overlooked for the exhibit: “The Mill was always dusty,” and the Hengehold children grew up sweeping and sweeping, but it wasn’t until a vacuum was used that historical relics were found between the hardwood planks.Every Thursday the many friends of the late Lou Hengehold would meet at The Mill, many bringing items to leave behind.“One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. . .as a kid the backroom was closed off,” where all the treasures would be stored.“Dad knew everyone in Ventura County and they knew who started the Great Fire of ’33 and all about the floods,” folklore and facts dominating all conversations, noted Hengehold.The 67th structure to be listed as a Ventura County Historical marker, The Mill is now more antique mall than feed and grain store.The exhibit features vintage photographs of The Mill and the farmers who once populated it for goods and gossip, authentic machinery including a towering lima bean loader, original documents and a painting of The Mill by Frankie Capps. The horse on display is the plastic, not the stuffed, one and the distinctive H of the Hengehold brand decorates an antique hat holder holding Lou’s prized and trademark Stetson.The unique exhibit “even has my father’s underwear,” said Anita Pulido. “His calzones. . .my dad gave them to Lou,” a good friend who made sure the colorful boxer shorts were exhibited in a Mill place of honor.
‘The Mill Walls Talk’ tell fascinating history at exhibit
May 28, 2004
Santa Paula News
If “The Mill Walls Talk” you’re in for some fascinating conversation: the latest exhibit from the Santa Paula Historical Society highlights Ventura County’s oldest operating business as well as the characters The Mill walls have surrounded for over a century.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesIf “The Mill Walls Talk” you’re in for some fascinating conversation: the latest exhibit from the Santa Paula Historical Society highlights Ventura County’s oldest operating business as well as the characters The Mill walls have surrounded for over a century.The Santa Paula California Oil Museum exhibit opened with a special reception including a presentation by a member of the Hengehold family, The Mill’s owners for 50 years.Polly Hengehold, whose late husband Lou was the heart and soul of The Mill, received a special plaque in honor the family’s contributions to the community and their preservation of Mill history from SPHS President Mary Alice Orcutt Henderson.“The Mill is one of those quintessential places” that once visited is never forgotten, said SPCOM Executive Director Mike Nelson. “. . .it has a great sense of history.”Mike Shore of the SPHS said the group organizes up to three exhibits a year: “Sometimes it’s hard, but this was easy,” the idea to highlight The Mill born when Louie Hengehold wrote and performed presented a vignette, “The Mill Walls Talk” for the October 2003 Ghost Walk.Historical society exhibits “Takes a lot of work and meetings and planning but the Hengeholds did most of it,” noted Shore. “Everyone has own their own memories of The Mill and my own is the Saturday morning cat exchange,” where kittens were able to find new homes.Louie Hengehold covered The Mill’s long history – the building was put up in the 1880s – noting that “it was a farming store built for farmers as part of a chain of warehouses before the railroad,” cut through Santa Paula.
