Stillwater Creamery

In 1900, the Stillwater Creamery Association started construction of a new creamery to manufacture butter on North Second Street. The initiative soon faced a setback when lumber baron Isaac Staples’ estate decided to sell off its large herd, depriving the new creamery of a major source of milk. The start of operations was postponed until 1901, but the organization reported a few good years once it started. By 1903, it had opened a skimming station in Afton, providing farmers in the southern part of Washington County with an easier option to sell their milk. In 1904, the creamery was only operating at a third of its potential capacity, due to a lack of milk suppliers. By summer, it had ceased operations.^[1]

The next year, a new Farmers’ Creamery Association was formed to restart the creamery, based on numerous farmers pledging to send their milk to the Stillwater Creamery. The creamery’s focus was on butter, and its popular Rose Brand product was distributed through grocery stores in the area. Additionally, the creamery sold milk, eggs, vegetables, berries, and other items from its farmers. With the new momentum, the Stillwater Messenger predicted that “the ice cream trade will be quite lively in the city this summer.” By 1918, World War I created high demand for condensed milk, making the creamery unsustainable. After considering options including sale to a private owner, the association instead decided to sell to the Stillwater Market Company, which operated a nearby grain elevator and had a similar mission. The Stillwater Civic Club stepped into share the market company’s risk and promote the project as “one more link to the chain which binds town and country together.” The Stillwater Gazette described the market company as “a community affair. Its purpose is to deal fairly with the farmer and make the Market an institution for the benefit and welfare of both the producer and the consumer.”^[2]

The Stillwater Market Company was successful through the following decade, and in 1929 relocated the creamery to a new, larger facility on Main Street (later known as Maple Island). By the 1950s, the original creamery location on Second Street was the site of a gas station.^[3]