Milk Handling

Following the fire in 1891 that destroyed most of the first Old East Barns, Armsby built a new creamery located to the right of the Ag Experiment Station and below where the Judging Pavilion is located.

A creamery was started in 1865 in one of the buildings that was a part of the "Old West Barns" complex. A second creamery was located at the "East Barns" complex where Armsby's Experiment Station herd was kept.

In 1894 Armsby built a third creamery, located east of the Agricultural Experiment Station, in order to accommodate the demand for butter brought about by the increased enrollment in the winter short course program.

In 1904 the Dairy Building (later named Patterson Hall) was built. The dairy department offices and the creamery facilities were relocated to Patterson and housed there until 1932. At that time, the department offices and the milk plant facilities were moved to a new "dairy building" that was later named to honor longtime department head Andrew Borland.

Patterson (Dairy Building) completed in 1904, housed the Creamery and classrooms. The horses and milk wagons are lined up along Curtin Road. The Calorimeter building is to the left and Armsby Building is to the rear.

The dairy plant in Borland Laboratory was located on the ground floor, and the dairy salesroom was one flight up. The dairy plant still occupies the major part of the basement floor in Borland. In 1961 a new sales room was built at ground level as an addition to the main building.

Milk from the departmental herds, combined with that from local farms, was delivered to the University creamery, providing milk and other products for use by the student body and some local retail sales.

Patterson, showing the milk receiving platforms along Curtin Road, with "Model Ts" delivering milk to the Creamery from nearby farms.

Retail sales were discontinued in 1958 because of objections by local milk handlers that the University creamery had an unfair advantage, since it was funded by "taxpayer" money. The facility continues to receive milk from the University herds and from two other local dairies and to process it as a part of the teaching and research program.

Table 2. Retired Dairy faculty with major years of service and their area(s) of expertise.

Authors: Donald L. Ace, Professor of Dairy Science, and Larry W. Specht, Professor of Dairy Science