Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company / Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company

Founded in 1881 by flour mill owners from ten mid-Michigan communities, the Michigan Millers Mutual Fire Insurance Company was among the first millers’ cooperative fire insurance companies in America. Its first policy was issued to company president D. L. Crossman of Williamston on October 26, 1881. By the turn of the century, Michigan Millers offered other types of insurance as well. During the Great Depression the company continued to grow, and in 1933, it established its Western Department in Glendale, California. The firm shortened its name to Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company in 1954. Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company has headquartered in Lansing since it was founded in 1881. The company built its first office in 1890 at 120 West Ottawa Street, and erected its second, the Mutual Building, at 208 North Capitol Avenue in 1929. One-hundred-year-old millstones imbedded in the concrete sidewalk outside of the building serve as reminders of the company’s origins. Michigan Millers continued to grow through the 1940s and 1950s. Its present office, designed by Childs and Smith of Chicago, was built in 1956-57. The building’s symbolic link to the company’s origins is the 1858-vintage steam pumper fire engine, encased in glass on the front lawn.