Perot
- Table of Contents ...........
Grain Elevators - Table
of Contents
North elevation. Dock on the Buffalo River.
Left: Perot elevator 1933 annex with 8" thick walls ... Center: overhead conveyor for
barley from American to Perot ... Right:
American Elevator, including two marine towers.
The movable left tower is the tower built by Perot but used by
American.
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| In the
interval between Perot's Buffalo founding in 1907 and American
Malting's final dissolution in 1922, the smaller malt house
received
all of its barley, the raw material from which malt is derived,
via
railroad. The Perot Elevator had been constructed without any marine
legs despite the malting company's desirable riverside location In 1922 the American Malting Elevator was sold to American Elevator & Warehouse (later American Elevator and Grain Co.). On July 1, 1922, an agreement was struck between Perot and American for the latter elevator to handle water-borne shipments for Perot. In 1933 a successor agreement between Perot and American established that part of Perot's land would be used to erect a movable marine tower plus a 100' dock. These would be built by Perot but used by American Malting. Perot's barley shipments were then conveyed to Perot from American via an overhead belting system. The use of Perot's land for the marine tower and other facilities would be continued on a ten-year basis with renewal every year. Rent paid to Perot by American for land use would be $4 per year. Both American and Perot proceeded with these arrangements during the Prohibition era despite the curtailment of their prime market, the brewing of lager beers. Perot accommodated the restrictions by converting the elevator to general public grain storage and restricting malt production to legal malt used for medical purposes and for the only legitimate alcohol product, "near beer." After repeal of prohibition laws in 1933, the malt house was doubled in capacity, as was the grain elevator capacity which was increased to 1 million bushels. During World War II, the U.S. government absorbed 70 percent of Perot's production to make industrial alcohol and beer for troops based in Europe. - HABS,
p. 7 (online June 2013)
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