Page 28 - DairyOnThePrairie

26 Dairy on the Prairie
THE ROSS CHEESE FACTORY
The Ross Cheese Factory certainly caught the attention of the local newspaper, the Monticel-
lo Express, which printed several articles about the new factory. On June 23, 1866, the newspa-
per reported that:
J.B. Ross, of Bowen's Prairie, has completed negotiations with F.M. Hicks for the land upon
which to erect a cheese factory and will proceed to put up a five thousand dollar establish-
ment between this [date] and spring. Although this is a private enterprise, the factory will
be for the use of the neighborhood. It is to be modeled after the New York cheese factories,
which have been in successful operation for years.
By February 21, 1867, the newspaper noted:
Mr. Ross of Bowens Prairie, informes [sic] us that the Cheese Factory projected last year is
to be built near Frank Hick's residence this spring. It will be 26 by 100 feet; two stories high where the liquid drained off.98
and will have the capacity of using the milk from 400 to 500 cows. Mr. Ross expects to be
ready to commence the manufacture of cheese by the 20th of May.
By August 8, 1867, the factory was fully operational, with a reporter from the Express paying
a visit to the establishment:
On Friday last, we visited the Bowen's Prairie Cheese Factory and found it a much
larger establishment than we had supposed it to be. Mr. Ross, the gentlemanly proprietor,
conducted us through the building and cheerfully gave us all the desired information,
pertaining to the manner in which they manufacture cheese. The building is twenty-six by
one hundred feet, two stories high, and is substantially built. The lower story contains two
rooms, besides the engine room and office, which are additions to the main building. The
second story will be used exclusively for a curing room.
The factory is pleasantly located, about seventy-five yards from the main road, near the
residence of F.M. Hicks, and presents both inside and out an appearance as neat and tidy
as an old maid's band box. The establishment is furnished with the best and most im-
proved machinery, and the operators are practical men who understand their business
thoroughly. They are now using the milk from one hundred and fifty cows, and turn out
nearly four hundred pounds of cheese per day.96
survived into the present day except as archaeology
sites, such as the remains of the Ross Cheese Factory
(13JN211) and the Oneida Cheese Factory (13JN168)
in the Bowen's Prairie neighborhood of Jones Coun-
ty. The non-extant Crescent Creamery in the Jones
County town of Langworthy provides an example of
a typical "whole milk" creamery from the early peri-
od. Built in February 1879, this creamery was touted
that same year as a "model" creamery.97 It was typi-
cal for the era being of frame construction and two
stories in height. It measured 26 by 54 feet and had a
substantial stone foundation. It also had a "solid stone
and cement floor which is six inches lower in the cen-
ter than at the sides and slopes to the rear of the build-
ing." Over the cement floor was a plank floor built so
"that all water, sour milk, or other liquids spilled upon
the floor [ran] through to the cement floor below"
A well with a pump supplied fresh water, and an
ice house provided the cooling agent. A receiving
room contained a Fairbanks scale to weigh the milk
as it arrived. There were two milk cooling vats set into
the cement, which were supplied with cool water
through elevated tanks and pipes. The milk was
cooled in tin pans set into the cooling vats, with each
pan having a faucet through which skim milk would
drain once the cream had risen to the top; a process
that took about 36 to 48 hours. The cream was then
churned for butter, with a steam engine supplying the
operation's power. The upper story of the building
served as living space for the creamery foreman and
his family. In 1879, this creamery received milk from
600 area cows and produced nearly 400 pounds of
butter from 12,000 pounds of milk received daily. The
rail line in nearby Monticello transported the butter
to New York and Philadelphia markets. The Crescent
Creamery later passed into the hands of S.W. Merrill
and was later absorbed by the Diamond Creamery
Company of Monticello. In 1888, the Crescent Cream-
ery burned to the ground and was replaced by a skim
house built by the Diamond Creamery Company.99