Creamer_'s Dairy
In the Spring of 1904 when most people arriving in Alaska were chasing gold, Charles and Belle Hinckley arrived in Fairbanks, not with finding gold in mind, but making money by milking cows. They had been running a successful dairy in the Nome area until the gold strike there began petering out. Then, hearing of new opportunities in Interior Alaska along the Chena River, they packed up their cows and took the first steamboat of the 1904 season from St. Michael on the Norton Sound coast up the Yukon River to Fairbanks. It took 27 days to reach Fairbanks, during which time they helped pay for their passage by keeping passengers and crew supplied with fresh milk.
Charles and Belle Hinckley started the dairy on Fourth Avenue serving boomtown Fairbanks south of the Chena. Life must have been tough at first. According to the book, “The History of Creamer’s Dairy,” during this period the Hinckleys couldn’t afford regular milk bottles, so they sterilized wine bottles and used them instead. But by 1915, they had moved to a bigger place across the Chena, where Creamer's stands today.
Belle’s sister, Anne; and Anne’s husband, Charles Creamer (who had grown up in Fairbanks); bought the dairy from the Hinckleys in 1928, and from then on, the dairy was known as Creamer's.Dairy.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the Creamer's worked hard to modernize and expand the business. In 1938 the Creamers had the largest and most modern barn in Alaska built for their operation. The new barn was 110 feet long, and 36 feet wide, with a huge hay loft capable of holding enough hay to get a 55-cow herd through a Fairbanks winter. This was a "Louden'' barn--designed by the Louden Machinery Co. of Iowa. [The company was founded by William Louden (1841-1931). Louden was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Iowa as an infant. After attending Axline University in Fairfield, he became a teacher. In 1867, he invented a patented hay carrier that made two-story barns practical. According to one description, Louden's hay carrier "utilized the already existing hay fork tool but broadened its use by attaching it to an overhead monorail along which the hay fork and hay could be moved within a barn."].
To celebrate the opening of the new barn and its state-of-the-art equipment in 1938, the Creamers threw a huge dance and invited the whole town. According to the report in the News-Miner the next day, nearly everyone in Fairbanks attended.
The 1940s and early 1950s Creamer's Dairy prospered, selling milk, ice cream, sherbet, cottage cheese, whipping cream, buttermilk, chocolate milk, and even a non-dairy orange drink. World War II was good for business at first, because it enabled them to secure a lucrative contract to sell milk and ice cream to Ladd Air Force Base, just up the road. In 1950 a second barn, nearly as big as the first, was constructed. At the height of operations, the dairy employed between 12 and 16 people, producing 250 to 300 gallons of milk and dairy products, and 400 to 600 gallons of ice cream and sherbet daily.
But post war changes in market conditions and new health regulations eventually led to the dairy’s demise. The Creamers were forced to close their dairy in 1966.
The town rallied to help purchase the land for preservation, and in the early 1970s the state acquired it for use as a waterfowl sanctuary, which it has been ever since. The major buildings still standing at Creamer's Field are the family residence/visitor's centre, the barn complex, processing building, and the bunkhouse/potato storage shed. The entire site is on the National Register of Historic Places. The buildings are still owned by the state and operated by the Fish and Game Department.
Creamer_'s Dairy
In the Spring of 1904 when most people arriving in Alaska were chasing gold, Charles and Belle Hinckley arrived in Fairbanks, not with finding gold in mind, but making money by milking cows. They had been running a successful dairy in the Nome area until the gold strike there began petering out. Then, hearing of new opportunities in Interior Alaska along the Chena River, they packed up their cows and took the first steamboat of the 1904 season from St. Michael on the Norton Sound coast up the Yukon River to Fairbanks. It took 27 days to reach Fairbanks, during which time they helped pay for their passage by keeping passengers and crew supplied with fresh milk.
Charles and Belle Hinckley started the dairy on Fourth Avenue serving boomtown Fairbanks south of the Chena. Life must have been tough at first. According to the book, “The History of Creamer’s Dairy,” during this period the Hinckleys couldn’t afford regular milk bottles, so they sterilized wine bottles and used them instead. But by 1915, they had moved to a bigger place across the Chena, where Creamer's stands today.
Belle’s sister, Anne; and Anne’s husband, Charles Creamer (who had grown up in Fairbanks); bought the dairy from the Hinckleys in 1928, and from then on, the dairy was known as Creamer's.Dairy.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the Creamer's worked hard to modernize and expand the business. In 1938 the Creamers had the largest and most modern barn in Alaska built for their operation. The new barn was 110 feet long, and 36 feet wide, with a huge hay loft capable of holding enough hay to get a 55-cow herd through a Fairbanks winter. This was a "Louden'' barn--designed by the Louden Machinery Co. of Iowa. [The company was founded by William Louden (1841-1931). Louden was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Iowa as an infant. After attending Axline University in Fairfield, he became a teacher. In 1867, he invented a patented hay carrier that made two-story barns practical. According to one description, Louden's hay carrier "utilized the already existing hay fork tool but broadened its use by attaching it to an overhead monorail along which the hay fork and hay could be moved within a barn."].
To celebrate the opening of the new barn and its state-of-the-art equipment in 1938, the Creamers threw a huge dance and invited the whole town. According to the report in the News-Miner the next day, nearly everyone in Fairbanks attended.
The 1940s and early 1950s Creamer's Dairy prospered, selling milk, ice cream, sherbet, cottage cheese, whipping cream, buttermilk, chocolate milk, and even a non-dairy orange drink. World War II was good for business at first, because it enabled them to secure a lucrative contract to sell milk and ice cream to Ladd Air Force Base, just up the road. In 1950 a second barn, nearly as big as the first, was constructed. At the height of operations, the dairy employed between 12 and 16 people, producing 250 to 300 gallons of milk and dairy products, and 400 to 600 gallons of ice cream and sherbet daily.
But post war changes in market conditions and new health regulations eventually led to the dairy’s demise. The Creamers were forced to close their dairy in 1966.
The town rallied to help purchase the land for preservation, and in the early 1970s the state acquired it for use as a waterfowl sanctuary, which it has been ever since. The major buildings still standing at Creamer's Field are the family residence/visitor's centre, the barn complex, processing building, and the bunkhouse/potato storage shed. The entire site is on the National Register of Historic Places. The buildings are still owned by the state and operated by the Fish and Game Department.