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Preparing to move the Lake Shetek Mills onto the End-O-Line Campus. -
Goldschmidt House Movers were hired to move the Lake Shetek Mills and the General Store.
By Norma Dittman Building relocations at Murray County’s End-O-Line Park, Currie, will boost accessibility to the historic General Store and the Lake Shetek Mills replica.
According to Nick Demuth, Director of the Murray County Historical Museum, moving those two buildings onto the park campus has been under discussion for many years. “They have been in a location adjacent to the park where they have flooded many times in the past. In 2018, we had to remove everything inside from them. That area floods about every five or so years, as it did in June of this year.”
Throughout the years, there have been attempts to apply for grants to aid in the finances for moving the buildings, but those efforts were not successful.
With the flooding in June, the Murray County Commissioners made the decision to pay for the relocation of the two buildings.
“They did ask me last year if I would be able to get the foundations built for the General Store and the mill, but I just didn’t have time,” Joe Schreier of Joseph Schreier Construction, Currie, explained. “I told them we would keep time open for building the foundations during 2025, and we got it done. I was so excited to be able to do the work because I feel like it is such an important thing for our park.”
Schreier mentioned that he has talked to several people who did not realize that the General Store and the Lake Shetek Mills buildings were a part of End-O-Line Park. “Bringing them onto the park campus in line with the other buildings makes them much more accessible.”
When asked what the proccess for the move was, Schreier and Demuth both shared specifics. “Jake Halverson and I had to remove the boardwalk that went to those two buildings, then we needed to contact the mover to find out when they were available,” Demuth said. “Goldschmidt House Movers out of St. James moved the buildings.”
Joseph Schreier Construction had to have the 48 inch block foundations prepared so that they would be ready for the moving dates of Monday, December 15th and Wednesday, December 17th for the General Store and mill, respectively.
“I was a bit concerned about how they were going to move the mill because it actually has the grist mill inside of it,” Schreier commented. “That grist mill is a 40 inch wide stone with a lot of weight to it.” He said that when the replica of the mill was built, they constructed the foundation, placed the grist mill inside, and built the building around it.
“I was wondering if we were going to have to knock a hole in the building to get that grist mill out to move the building. There was a 5,000 pound difference in the weights on the hydraulics when they loaded the building, so you know the grist mill is very heavy,” Schreier explained. “ We will have to fill the space under it with block to make sure it is securely supported.”
Both the chimney and the cupola had to be removed for Goldschmidt House Movers to get under the wires across the road.
“I’m very happy that the moving part is finally done,” Demuth stated. “In the spring we will start placing all of the items back in the General Store. We won’t have those two buildings ready in the spring of 2026 for school tours, but we will definitely have them ready for spring of 2027.”
End-O-Line Park has a very rich history that was spurred by a 1967 National 4-H program entitled “The Community Pride Community”. in 1972, Currie Poco-A-Poco 4-H Club picked up that theme and cleaned the unused and overgrown railroad turntable which led to the beginning of End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum.
