How to see inside the Messer/Mayer Mill, which entrance to use, what tours cost and the dates for the Thresheree, maple day and Luminary Walk.
A mill that one family ran for almost 100 years still stands off Highway 164, and a local volunteer group has spent the decades since keeping it standing. The Richfield Historical Society was created on January 30, 1997, and a year later the Town of Richfield signed a $135,000 purchase of the Messer/Mayer Mill and its 33-acre parcel. Today the society runs Richfield Historical Park, a 33-acre site with the mill, a farmstead, log buildings and a calendar of working-history days.
The park is part of the Village of Richfield's park system, and the 92-acre Richfield Nature Park sits right beside it.
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How the society saved the mill
The society began with 25 charter members in March 1997 and had 59 by that June. Its first big job was not the mill at all but taking down the Kuhaupt bank barn, and in its first year it also ran a fall bus tour of historic buildings and took part in Richfield Days.
The mill deal came in January 1998, when the Town Board voted on January 15 and signed on January 31, paying from developer fees in the township park fund. The Messer/Mayer Mill is now on the National and State Registers of Historic Places and is a Washington County Landmark, and the society describes it as still under restoration.
The Mayers kept it working until the early 1970s, so the machinery you see on a tour belongs to a mill that ran within living memory.
The Messer/Mayer Mill and the other buildings
Beyond the mill, the Pioneer Homestead area has the Motz Log Cabin and the Messer Log Barn, and a timber frame area holds a granary, a sugar shack and a blacksmith shop. The Lillicrapp Welcome Center is the only building on the site with step-free access. If anyone in your group uses a wheelchair, plan around the welcome center and the grounds rather than the mill floors.
Visiting: hours, entrances and tour prices
The grounds are open daily from 7am to 10:30pm, but the buildings are only open during scheduled tours and events. Walk-in visitors on an ordinary day can see the outside of the mill and wander to the Nature Park, but not go inside.
Guided tours run by appointment from May 1 to November 1, booked by phone on 262-628-0252. They cost $5 for adults and $3 for children aged 6 to 12, and children 5 and under go free.
There are two entrances, and using the right one saves a walk. Events use the entrance at 1896 Highway 164, while most tours use the Pleasant Hill Road entrance at number 4399.
Annual events at Richfield Historical Park
Event days are the only regular times the buildings open without a booked tour, and the society posts each year's dates well ahead.
Maple Syrup Family Day (March)
The season opens in late March at the sugar shack, and the 2026 Maple Syrup Family Day ran 9am to 4pm on March 28 with free admission and parking. A pancake breakfast ran from 9am to noon for $8, and the 2027 date is posted as March 27.
Art at the Mill (June)
Art at the Mill fills the grounds with artists in June, and the 2026 fair fell on June 20, with $3 admission, paid at the gate as you drive in. The 2027 fair is set for June 19.
Thresheree and Harvest Festival (September)
The Thresheree is the big one, a two-day harvest festival with a tractor parade at 1pm. In 2026 it ran September 19 and 20 from 9am to 5pm, with $6 admission and free entry for children 12 and under. The 2027 festival is posted for September 18 and 19.
Blacksmith Day and the Luminary Walk (autumn)
Blacksmith Day puts the forge in the timber frame area to work, and in 2026 it ran on October 10. The Luminary Walk follows in early November, and the 2026 walk is set for November 7.
The society also runs a spring Education Day for school groups, which reached its 15th year in May 2026.
Richfield Nature Park next door
The two parks share the Highway 164 entrance, so one parking stop covers both.
The Saturday farmers market
Which visit suits you
Families with young children get the most for the least at Maple Syrup Family Day, which is free to enter and has a pancake breakfast for $8. For a first look at the grounds, the September Thresheree gives you the full site, the tractor parade and a harvest festival for $6, with children 12 and under free.
If you want the mill without the crowds, book a guided tour between May 1 and November 1, and pair it with a Saturday morning at the market from 10am to 1pm. Call the tour line at 262-628-0252 to fix a time, since tours are by appointment rather than on a timetable.
For a quiet evening walk, the grounds stay open until 10:30pm, and the Nature Park trails start at the same entrance.
Lunch near the park
The nearest kitchen is The Forge, about 0.3 mile away at Pleasant Hill Road and Highway 164, which opened in April 2026 and serves weekend breakfast from 10am.
About 0.9 mile south, Bilda's Friess Lake Pub does pizza and burgers with outdoor seating.
More places to eat are in the round-up of Richfield restaurants.
For a lake afternoon after the mill, Glacier Hills County Park on Friess Lake is about 2.1 miles southwest.
Across the village, Richfield's taproom, bowling alley and concert hall round out a full day.
Frequently asked questions
Published October 12, 2026
