Grist for the Mill

J.T. Pollard Cornmeal Has Been a Staple in Southern Kitchens for Decades

J.T. Pollard cornmeal is the stuff of legend — white dust lingering in kitchens and covering many a countertop for generations.

Pollard Milling Company — located in a simple building near State Highway 123 in Hartford — has operated since 1962. The grist mill started by James Thomas Pollard is now under the care of his granddaughter, Kelly Pollard Dickerson, and her aunt, Paula Pollard.

J.T. Pollard ran the mill until 1973 when his sons, Jimmy and Tony, took over operations. Tony’s wife, Paula, stepped in full-time when he died in 2000.

Dickerson joined her aunt to manage operations in May 2022 when her father, Jimmy Pollard, retired. Taking over her father’s spot when he retired was both an honor and a bit intimidating, Dickerson says.

“Of course, there’s no such thing as taking Daddy’s spot, because, well, he’s forgotten more than I’ll ever learn, but I do my best,” she says.

Her father — who oversaw everything from ordering bags and corn to answering calls from grocery stores wanting more cornmeal — still provides advice and helpful reminders about the business.

“There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes without being out there in that bag room getting the product out,” Dickerson says.

White corn from Kentucky is used to make J.T. Pollard cornmeal. A truck arrives at least once a month to fill the grain bin — sometimes twice a month during the peak times in October and November.

The encased stones used to grind kernels are the same ones used when the mill opened in 1962, the oldest stone is over 100 years old. Every 6 months, the stones are sharpened — a job that requires an air hammer — and occasionally the stones must be reset. Kernels drop into the center of each stone grinder. Once ground, the cornmeal product goes through a commercial sifter before it makes it to the bagging room.

A worker can bag 17.8 pounds of cornmeal per minute with a full sifter feeding freshly ground meals through a chute that stretches into the bagging room. There, bags are filled through a spout that can be opened and closed. Bags are sitting on a scale as they are filled, and a drop in the scale indicates when a bag is full enough to be removed. From there the bag is placed on a digital scale, and a scoop is used to get the precise weight.

Pollard Milling Company sells coarser medium-ground cornmeal under the Sholars brand in Georgia. In Alabama, customers prefer fine or extra-fine cornmeal, Dickerson says. Preference is typically based on how someone was raised, she says — just like whether you prefer fried cornbread to baked cornbread. But Dickerson says many customers also use the cornmeal to bread fish for frying, preferring the finer texture.

In the Wiregrass, you can find J.T. Pollard cornmeal in Piggly Wiggly, Grocery Outlets, and many mom-and-pop grocery stores. It’s even distributed to some local restaurants.

While the mill does not have online ordering, people can call and have cornmeal shipped to them. Cornmeal is shipped to buyers countrywide, not just in the Southeast.

“Washington, California, New Jersey — all over the United States,” Dickerson says.

Mail-order customers are a mix of people who grew up with parents or grandparents using the product or discovered it through media such as Southern Living, which has featured J.T. Pollard cornmeal in its Thanksgiving Cookbook and has worked with Southern cuisine chef Scott Peacock — a Hartford native who swears by the cornmeal. Pollard Milling Company has also received business from social media, Dickerson says.

Locals often questioned what would happen to the mill when Jimmy Pollard retired. Dickerson says there is no need for customers to worry about how to get the cornmeal. She plans to keep the mill going until people no longer want their products.

Dickerson says the product loyalty stems from a history with the cornmeal. That is how it is for her, anyway.

“I think it’s just heritage — they grew up around it,” she says. “It was something that was always on my grandmother’s table.”