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Dairy on the Prairie 25
in the Bowen's Prairie and Jones County area reflect Craig/Allemand Barn modern farmstead.
the evolving dairy barn through the years as dairy looking to the northwest Commercial dairy production began to supplant
operations became more sanitized and more mecha- in September 2000. Orig-
nized into the twentieth century. These barns include inal section of barn con- home production between the late 1860s and the
gambrel roofed and Gothic Arched barns that allowed sists of the SE corner in 1870s, with the construction of creameries and cheese
for more open space on the interior. These later barns the foreground. factories booming in the late nineteenth century. These
included plank frame and masonry buildings, with early factory buildings were typically of frame con-
tile block and concrete the favored materials of the needs to be properly struction and susceptible to fire. Proximity to a good
early twentieth century. Inside the barn improvements cooled to inhibit bac- water source, either a spring or well, was required as
included metal stanchions and mechanized feed and terial growth. The well as a location close enough to a creek or pond
milking equipment. milk is poured into where ice could be gathered in the winter. An exam-
deep pans, which are ple of this is the J.S. Condit Creamery in Anamosa
Silos reflect changes in the dairy industry that rec- then lowered into the where the building was sited next to Davidson Creek,
ognized the value of improved livestock through the water, with the milk with the ice house located in the end of the building
production of better, controlled feed and of year- cooling to a desired nearest the creek. The actual water source for the
round milking, which was made possible by silage. temperature around creamery was provided by a dug well. (The Sanborn
As a result, silos, built first of wood and then of con- 58 degrees Fahrenheit. The cream Map Company's 1899 fire insurance map of the Con-
crete or tile block, became a common sight in Iowa's rises to the top and is skimmed off and placed in deep dit Creamery noted that the creek went dry in the sum-
dairy region. Even later, the invention of the thermos- containers in the spring house until it is ready to churn mertime.)
like Harvestore silo, having a glass-coated interior and into butter. The skim milk would have been fed to the
fiberglass-bonded steel exterior, virtually eliminated livestock.94 Because of their wood construction, most of the
silage spoilage.93 earliest creameries and cheese factories have not
As dairy farm operations grew, and in response to
Other buildings that reflect Bowen's Prairie and both commercial standards and later government reg-
Jones County's changing roles in the dairy industry ulations, milk cooling moved out of the spring house
include milk houses, spring houses, cheese factories and into specially built milk houses. These buildings
and creameries, skim stations, and milk plants. How- are small in size and built of wood, concrete, or tile
ever, the survival of these resources as standing build- block, with the use of concrete and tile block in later
ings is rare, except for the later factories. There is at milk houses reflecting increased sanitation standards
least one known early limestone spring house still in the dairy industry. The milk house contains a cool-
standing in the Bowen's Prairie settlement area on a ing tank, washing facilities, and storage space for milk
farmstead in Section 18 of Richland Township. Spring cans.95 Typical milk houses seen in Iowa are gable
houses are often built of stone and shelter a flowing roofed and sited very near the dairy barn or attached
spring at its source, with water allowed to either flood directly to that building by an enclosed walkway. Milk
the floor or is channeled into open troughs around houses enjoy a better survival rate on the eastern Iowa
the interior of the structure. While initially built to landscape because of their more recent construction
protect the spring as a clean water source, spring hous- and continued dairy production into the present day.
es were also used to store perishables and to cool milk Spring houses, on the other hand, are rare in their sur-
during the separating process of home dairy produc- vival because they serve no useful purpose on the
tion. The size of the spring house when used in dairy
production would depend upon the number of cows
being milked. Milk when first drawn from the cow
has a temperature of about 90 degrees Fahrenheit and
