Elgin Dairy Farm

Many of the early settlers in Elgin were farmers, with wheat being their largest crop. In the 1850’s the demand for wheat began to decline and farmers were faced with a choice: readdress their business practices or face extinction. The answer would become one of Elgin’s biggest revenue producers: milk. Chicago needed a constant and sizable stream of fresh milk and Elgin took up the challenge.

In 1852, Phineas Smith would ship a bottle of milk from his farm, land owned by Dr. Joseph Tefft that would eventually become Lord’s Park, to a Chicago hotel. By 1858 he would be joined by over 20 other farmers were cumulatively sending over 21,000 gallons of milk to Chicago. By the 1890’s the ranks of milk, butter and cheese factories within a 50 mile radius of Elgin increased to over 200. "Elgin Dairy" milkmen were common occurrences in Chicago.

By 1891, David W. Wilson had established The Elgin butter district, a board designed to regulate and set prices for dairy products would meet once a week on South Grove Avenue. The board’s motto was "Elgin Makes the Price, We Tell You What It Is".

These activities would attract the attention of Gail Borden, of Borden’s Evaporated Milk fame and John Newman, owner of The Springbrook Dairy, who owned or controlled the output of over 50 dairies.

Ed. Note:  The woman who sold me this card was a retired Elgin School District teacher.  As she was selling it to me, she said with a straight face, "they tore that building down, you know!"  (??????????)