Butte Creek Mill Looks to Build Certified Community Kitchen
The restored Eagle Point landmark is raising funds for a certified community kitchen.
Volunteers operate the restored milling equipment inside Butte Creek Mill, continuing the landmark’s long tradition of producing stone-ground flour while keeping its historic machinery in active use. (Butte Creek Mill/Facebook)
EAGLE POINT, Ore. — After rebuilding the historic Butte Creek Mill from a devastating fire in 2015, the nonprofit organization behind the Eagle Point landmark is turning its attention toward what comes next.
The Butte Creek Mill Foundation is working to construct a certified community kitchen that could support community meals, fundraising dinners, cooking classes, educational programs and other activities at the restored mill.
Foundation leaders say the project would help transform the mill from a preserved historic site into a more versatile community resource.
Plans for the kitchen include space to host pancake breakfasts, spaghetti feeds and other community dinners. It could also support baking, cooking and nutrition classes for students, seniors and other community members.
The kitchen would allow the mill to prepare samples and recipes using its own stone-ground flour and heritage baking mixes, connecting the building’s original purpose with new educational opportunities.
“The Certified Community Kitchen will help ensure that the Butte Creek Mill remains a place where people can gather, learn, share experiences, and build lasting connections for generations to come,” the foundation board wrote in a recent community update.
Jim Belushi shops inside the historic Butte Creek Mill, where his continued support has helped advance the landmark’s restoration and future plans. Belushi will return June 27 for Comedy on the Rogue, a fundraiser supporting the mill’s proposed certified community kitchen. (Butte Creek Mill/Facebook)
Fundraising for the Mill’s Next Chapter
The kitchen project is also behind the foundation’s latest fundraising effort.
Actor and Southern Oregon resident Jim Belushi will host another Comedy on the Rogue benefit June 27 at Belushi’s Farm. His daughter, Jami Belushi, is expected to open the evening with music before Belushi and his Board of Comedy perform.
Belushi has supported the mill through several fundraising events, beginning during the effort to rebuild following the 2015 fire.
This year, however, the focus has shifted from restoring what was lost to expanding what the mill can provide.
The foundation recently addressed questions about why the mill continues to hold fundraisers after its physical reconstruction.
Today, the Butte Creek Mill operates as a nonprofit organization with one full-time employee, three part-time employees, a volunteer Board of Directors and community volunteers.
Volunteers help organize events, maintain the property, care for landscaping, make repairs, provide tours, bake samples and handle many of the day-to-day tasks required to keep the mill active.
“We’re not fundraising simply to keep the doors open,” the foundation wrote. “We’re fundraising to keep the Butte Creek Mill serving our community for generations to come.”
Jim Belushi’s Comedy on the Rogue returns June 27 at Belushi’s Farm, bringing food, music and comedy together for a fundraiser supporting the historic Butte Creek Mill and its planned certified community kitchen. (Butte Creek Mill)
Rebuilt Through Community Support
The mill’s future looked uncertain after fire swept through the building early Christmas morning in 2015.
Investigators later determined that the accidental fire began after an apparent electrical malfunction ignited a concealed area above the milling room. Flames spread quickly through the historic wood-frame structure, destroying much of the building.
The basement, grinding stones and portions of the mill’s historic machinery survived.
Community members, businesses, volunteers and donors then rallied around the effort to save the landmark. The Butte Creek Mill Foundation was formed in 2016, and the property was transferred to the nonprofit organization as restoration moved forward.
Donations, grants and fundraising events helped rebuild the mill, which began reopening in stages around 2020. Restored machinery and millstones eventually allowed the property to resume producing stone-ground flour and baking mixes.
Belushi became one of the rebuilding effort’s most visible supporters, using concerts and comedy events to raise money and attention for the project.
A worker operates the restored milling equipment at Butte Creek Mill, continuing the Eagle Point landmark’s tradition of producing stone-ground flour with historic machinery. (Butte Creek Mill/Facebook)
History That Remains in Use
Built in 1872, the Butte Creek Mill has long been part of Eagle Point’s identity.
Today, visitors can shop in the Country Store, purchase flour and baking mixes, tour the historic property and attend events throughout the year.
The mill hosts farmers markets, Cars, Coffee & Cookies gatherings, artisan and vintage fairs, Music at the Mill, educational tours and its annual Magic of Christmas celebration.
Those activities are central to the foundation’s approach to preservation.
Rather than maintaining the mill solely as a historic display, the organization wants it to remain a working and welcoming place where people regularly gather.
The proposed kitchen would give the foundation more ways to fulfill that mission while connecting food, agriculture, history and education under one roof.
More than a decade ago, the community helped rebuild the Butte Creek Mill.
Now, the foundation is asking supporters to help determine what the restored landmark can become.
Cover image: The restored Butte Creek Mill in Eagle Point, where its nonprofit foundation is working toward a certified community kitchen to expand educational programs, community meals and future events. (Butte Creek Mill/Facebook)
