KFGO Blog

North Dakota State University associate architecture professor Steve Martens has a special fondness for Minnesota creameries.

How special? About five years ago, Martens concluded a self-funded research project that involved four years’ worth of travel throughout the state, during which he visited and photographed old creameries from Ada to St. Bonifacius.

He learned the stories behind the rapidly disappearing buildings, took note of efforts to reuse the anachronistic structures, and compiled enough information to write a book about what he calls a “unique Minnesota phenomenon.”

The buildings stand out in rural Minnesota landscapes, he says, not just because of their distinctive brick architecture and gabled roofs, but because they are reminders of the history of the dairy cooperative movement in Minnesota.

“When you talk to these people, they really care about these old buildings,” Martens said in a phone interview, enthusiasm pouring out of his voice.

One such building — the Dassel Co-op Dairy Association Creamery Building in the east-central Minnesota town of Dassel — made the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota’s “10 most endangered” building’s list this year. Local preservationists are trying to spare the building from demolition.

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One reason for putting the Dassel building on the list was to bring attention to other creameries around the state that face an uncertain future, according to Erin Hanifan Berg, field representative for the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota.

“We hoped that if there were other communities that had a similar plight they would contact us or would try to engage in some way and not support demolition,” Berg said.

Uniquely Minnesotan

Martens said it’s “almost a surprise” to find buildings like these in Wisconsin, North Dakota or Iowa.

“When you get into those other states … they are typically a private venture rather than a cooperative venture,” he said. “You can almost draw the line around Minnesota, and that is the boundary” for finding these buildings.

From 1889 to 1929, more than 750 independently owned creamery buildings were constructed in the state, he noted in a 2007 paper called “Regional Significance of Minnesota’s Historic Creamery Buildings.”

The Dassel building is a good example of what Martens calls the second wave of creamery construction in Minnesota, which lasted from about 1905 to 1929 and produced solid brick buildings that put a good face on the industry.

“They are sturdy, built to last,” Martens said. “They figured out early on that fire resistance was an issue. A few earlier ones were built of wood, and for reasons of sanitation and fire resistance, they figured that masonry and concrete was the way to go.”

The third go-round of construction, post-1920s, produced buildings with more of an industrial look, he said.

The cooperatives served the farmers well. But the advent of refrigerated dairy trucks and consolidation in the dairy industry increasingly made the buildings obsolete.

Martens documented about 400 to 450 old creameries that were still standing at the time of his research. Some were still functioning as dairy buildings. Others were vacant. Still others had been reused for residences, shopping malls or small-engine repair shops.

Martens believes the buildings are worth saving, but understands that any reuse plan has to make financial sense.

“There is a lot of local pride in these,” he said. “The communities care about the buildings. But they are also practical, pragmatic people. If they can’t see a plan, they are not going to throw money down a rat hole.”

A dying breed

Despite their historical significance, many of the buildings are gone forever. In recent years, old creameries in Chaska and St. Bonifacius fell to the wrecking ball to make way for new retail projects, Martens said.

Other creameries are succumbing to the “pressures of growth and development,” said Martens, whose research led to the establishment of a database to “organize, located and describe” surviving creamery buildings.

Part of Martens’ motivation for studying creameries came after he read a book about the history of the cooperative dairy movement. Martens himself hopes to compile his copious notes and knowledge of Minnesota creameries into book form.

In a synopsis of his findings, Martens wrote that creameries are “greatly significant in telling the story of dairy production as valued-added agriculture, local decision-making, community values and architectural expression.”

He hopes his work might inspire people to take a second look at these buildings as they drive through Minnesota farm country.

“I saw so many of them and wanted to understand them. … You understand the Minnesota landscape a little better when you look at these things,” he said.

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Source: finance-commerce.com, KFGO News Center