Konriko / Conrad Rice Mill

Philip Amelius Conrad was born in Pointe Coupee Parish in 1882 and started rice farming in Avoyelles Parish with his uncle Charles around the turn of the 20th century. After moving to New Iberia on the banks of Bayou Teche, he bought land on the north side and grew rice. The harvested rice was shipped approximately 125 miles by steamboat to New Orleans for milling, as no local rice mills existed. In 1910, he built a small rice mill on the property to avoid the need to ship to New Orleans. In 1912 he relocated, rebuilding the mill at its current location at 307 Ann Street and establishing the Conrad Rice Milling and Planting Company. He moved his rice fields to the south bank of the bayou — the location on Bayou Teche was crucial, since water was required for irrigation. The mill was built three stories high to take advantage of gravity in the flow of rice throughout its processing stages. Rice was brought by elevator into a storage bin on the third floor. The bin fed into the stone — two 5-foot-diameter stones separated enough to dehull the rice — then into the huller to remove the bran, then the brush for polishing. The hullers were Engelberg hullers manufactured in Germany. Before electric motors were introduced in 1951, the hullers were driven by Corliss 150 hp steam engines powered from Babcock & Wilcox boilers. PA Conrad retired in 1940, turning the business over to his three sons: Philip Odell, who had joined following high school in 1920; Allen, who started as a farm hand in 1925; and Julian, who graduated from Soule Business College in New Orleans and assumed the role of bookkeeper. The employee with the longest tenure was Leander "Gutchie" Viltz, who began working at the mill at age six and worked continuously for 72 years. The mill was bought from the Conrad family in 1975 by Michael Davis. He expanded the varieties produced, including brown and flavored rice, and introduced locally manufactured seasonings, spices, sauces, marinades, and snacks. The Konriko brand name is a contraction of Conrad Rice Company — an attempt to trademark "Conrico" was rejected in the 1950s due to similarity with a California Rice Cooperative trademark. Two of the buildings, dating to 1914–1917 and 1930, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The original industrial timber-frame building on Ann Street still houses the milling equipment. It's the oldest independently owned rice mill in the United States still in operation, continuously milling since 1912. Tours run hourly Monday through Saturday. The gift shop sells rice, seasonings, and Cajun pantry staples milled on-site.