Editor's note: The following article is part of a series looking back at Indiana dairy history. The series is published in honor of Indiana's bicentennial.
Most of the small, local dairy plants that were in business 75 or 80 years ago are now gone. They faded from the landscape, unable to keep pace with the changes in milk processing and dairy farming.
Almost every community had at least one dairy plant. Some processed whole milk, while others, known as "creameries," bought just the cream.
As the small plants gradually went out of business, they left behind empty buildings and lots of memories. The buildings that survived over the years, like the Middlebury Cooperative Creamery in Middlebury, have been repurposed and have a new use. In Middlebury, the old creamery building on North Main Street is now an antique shop.
Middlebury Cooperative Creamery began in 1921, the result of a meeting among various individuals who saw opportunities in processing cream. That first meeting generated considerable interest, and $10,000 in stocks was sold to open the new business. In 1934, the company was reorganized from a stock organization to a true producer's cooperative.
The creamery was a fixture in Middlebury for 58 years, accepting cream from local farmers and processing it into butter and other byproducts.
Although Middlebury Cooperative Creamery was based in northern Elkhart County, it sourced cream from farms located as far away as Peru, Huntington, Valparaiso and South Haven, Mich. In 1948, the business was receiving separated cream from 2,800 producers. Later on, the cooperative began bringing in shipments of surplus cream from other dairy plants.
Today's producers sell whole milk, including cream, to manufacturers who
separate the components for further processing. But in the early 20th century, farmers themselves were responsible for separating the cream from the milk. Virtually every farm had a cream separator.
However, as more processors began accepting whole milk, the practice of on-farm cream separation faded away. By 1948, the Middlebury Cooperative Creamery was the only dairy plant in Indiana still receiving farm-separated cream.
According to a book on Middlebury history, "Middlebury: the Town Beautiful, 1836 to 1986," the Middlebury Cooperative Creamery annually produced more than 2 million pounds of butter during its peak years. The history book states that MCC's "Crystal Springs" label was popular in the northern Indiana region. In addition to butter, the cooperative also sold dried buttermilk powder for animal feed.
One key to the creamery's success over the years was the hard work of dozens of employees. While many have passed away, their stories are still remembered by many "next generation" family members who remain in the Middlebury community. They remember the meaningful connections of their parents and grandparents with the Creamery and Crystal Springs Butter.
Bernie Eash's father, Mel Eash, worked at the creamery for 10 years during the Great Depression, from 1929 to 1939. He started out as a can weigher (farm-separated cream was delivered in cans) and became a butter maker several years later. As a weigher, he measured the weight of all incoming cans of cream and also conducted quality tests. The tests, according to Bernie, were very simple; his father tasted each sample to determine if it was sweet (fresh) or not. Only sweet cream was accepted.
When Bernie's father was promoted to butter maker in 1932, he and another worker, Orland Yoder, oversaw the churning process.
The plant had two churns, one with a capacity of 3,500 pounds and the other with a capacity of 2,500 pounds. The churns made three batches per day, producing nine tons of butter.
Bernie said it took 45 minutes to churn a batch of butter. Salt was added after the first 30 minutes.
The hard work, he said, involved removing the butter from the churns by hand and loading it into wooden tubs. Once filled, the tubs were moved to an overnight cooler to allow the butter to set up firmly. The next day, the butter was removed from the tubs and run through presses, which shaped the butter into sticks. Each stick was wrapped manually with paper and placed into boxes, then into shipping boxes before being moved to another cooler.
Cleaning the churns also required hard work. After the churns were emptied, each unit had to be cleaned, sanitized and filled again with cream for the next batch. Bernie said his father had to enter the churns to do this work. Cleaning, sanitizing and filling the churns was a continuous process.
Bernie's sister, Ruby, also worked at the creamery, from 1948 to 1952. She worked in the testing lab and assisted with office duties.
According to the Middlebury history book, in 1978 the Middlebury Cooperative Creamery was the last plant in Indiana to service small dairy farms. A year later, in 1979, the plant closed, as many small dairy farms began to die out. According to Bernie, during the 1970s many small dairies sold their cows and turned to cash crops.
After working for 10 years at the creamery, Bernie's father moved on to become a small-scale dairy farmer. Mel and his wife Fannie started with 33 cows on rented land and gradually earned enough money to buy their own farm in 1943.
Bernie said his father was one of many hard-working employees who devoted some of their best years to the creamery. Their strong work ethic lives on today in the hearts and minds of their children and grandchildren.
While the creamery no longer exists, Bernie said it played an important role in the economy of the Middlebury community during the Great Depression and post-World War II years. It also provided an additional source of income for many small farms over the course of several decades.
Today, the old Middlebury Cooperative Creamery retains a little bit of its past glory with current owner Keith Thomas, whose father, Raymond Thomas, was employed by the creamery as a route driver during the late 1940s and early 1950s.
The younger Thomas purchased the creamery in 1990 and converted it into an antique store. Among his vast collection are signs, pictures and miscellaneous items from the hey-days of Middlebury Cooperative Creamery.