Topeka, KS: Largest Cargill Grain Elevator and UP Yard

(Satellite)

(Update: another posting has the capacity of this and two other Cargill elevators that are in Topeka.)

This elevator was built along the north side of the UP yard.

Doug Gartner posted five photos with the comment: "Getting ready to put in some new belts in Cargill at Topeka."

Bob Summers: That would be the old CGF terminal owned by the Garvey’s, then the Ruth Garvey Fink family after the grain companies were divided by the next generation families.

[Built] Early ‘50’s, probably took no more than 3 or 4 years. Viewed from the right of these shots shows better the size and phases of this elevator complex. The Garvey family sold this facility to Cargill around 1980.

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Cade Smith posted
Five months ago I posted this elevator with large shadows. So I told Jerry that I would go back and photograph the large Cargill Elevator in better light. I hope this is acceptable.

When Jerry Krug made it the group photo, Cade provided the address --- Cargill Grain 1845 NW Gordon St, Topeka, KS 66608 --- and indicated it was served by UP with KCS adding one or two trains a week.

Cade Smith posted three photos with the comment: "Jerry, asked if I could get some other shots of the Cargill elevator. Until the sun is higher in the sky this spring the North side is always in shadows. So here is the pic I posted the other day and a couple others to give an idea how large this elevator is. I will try to get the North side in the sun this spring."

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Ken Bryan posted
A massive Cargill elevator at Topeka KS
May 2016

They need to beef up their unloading capacity.

Thomas McCarter, Nov 2019

Bob Summers posted five photos with the comment:

Topeka Kansas was also where Ray Garvey built one of his very large terminal elevators for the purpose of storing government surplus grain. Chalmers & Borton built a 2,800,000 bushel storage annex on an existing small elevator, the short elevator at the near end in the first photo, in 1954.  C & B in 1956 built a 1,800,000 bushel elevator, with one of the tall head houses for the bulk certified scales required to have official weights.  C & B records an additional 4,000,000 bushel capacity was built in 1957, and another 5,000,000 bushels in 1958.  The “lean to” flat storage shed in the first picture was another quick way to add storage capacity to meet the demand to store  CCC (Commodity Credit Corporation) government surplus grain in the late 1950’s.  This elevator was known as CGF when the Ruth Garvey Fink family was the first of the Garvey siblings to exit the grain business and sold it to Cargill.  Cargill lists the capacity at 10,555,000 in the upright and 1,500,000 bushels in the flat storage.  Photographed in 2020.

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