Necessity formed many alliances over the years.  A common goal that could be attained through unity and cooperation was not only rewarding – it was the smart thing to do.  Nearly 125 years ago some local farmers joined together to form associations or co-ops designed to bring their products to market faster and with a better return.  In what was once a large farming community in our area, creameries were one such example.

The Spinnerstown Creamery Cooperative Association, formed in 1879, was one of the earliest cooperative associations in Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, and Montgomery Counties.

              During the late 1800s many of the local butter and cheese processing facilities were privately owned and operated – most were in your own home.  Commercial operations were typically located in populated areas or near railroads that helped with marketing and transporting their products. 

              What about the farmers who had neither the buyers nor the transportation to get a fair price for their milk and butter?  For the most part they churned the butter on their own farms and sold it to traveling hucksters at ridiculously low prices.

The star in the center of the map shows the location of the Spinnerstown Creamery, which was located at the corner of Steinsburg and Hieter roads in Milford Township.

            The financial returns were small and the labor in making butter was tedious and mostly done by human hands.  When we think of churning butter, our first image might be of the old plunger type with the farmer's wife pulling the dasher up and down to form the butter and separate the buttermilk.  Farmers around here were using a barrel churn or budderfass (butter barrel) around this time but it was still long, hard work. 

              After you were done churning it, the butter needed to be weighed, patted into shape and stamped with a pound print.  The carved wooden prints left a beautiful imprint on the top of the butter making it more attractive and marketable.

            Some credit William W. Shelly of Spinnerstown with introducing the dog treadmill to the area.  Among other things, this pet-powered device could be hooked up to the barrel churn to help out with the butter-making process.  Many farmers adopted the labor-saving way to make the creamy spread, but Shelly and other rural farmers were still not satisfied.

            In late 1879 William Shelly, Edwin Roeder and Henry Shelly fostered a movement to start a creamery in Spinnerstown and have someone hired to churn the butter.  Their idea was to have farmers buy a share of the enterprise and become owners. 

            There was some opposition at first because many local farmers were unsure of the benefits.  It was felt that a building could be constructed and machinery purchased for $1,300.  The Spinnerstown Creamery Cooperative Association was formed and shares were sold for $5.00 each to build and operate the creamery.  Three hundred shares were sold.

Butter was churned in a budderfass (butter barrel) after which it  was weighed and "stamped" with a butter print.  The finished pro-  duct was then sold to local hucksters at cheap prices, who then hawked their wares in larger towns and cities. Photo from Farming always Farming – H. Winslow Fegley.

            The creamery was constructed at what is today the corner of Steinsburg and Hieter Roads.  It didn't take long for the building phase of the project to eat up the initial $1,500.  The final cost of building and equipping the creamery was $4,600!  Newspaper accounts report that two additional share assessments of $5.00 were made to cover all costs, leaving the investors with a $15.00 total investment.

            The locals hired their first plant superintendent from New York.  It was reported that he charged a "fabulous" amount and lasted only one year.  W. G. Dimmig ran the operation for a short time before Erwin M. Wied was elected superintendent.  Wied ran the creamery for over 40 years, interrupted only by a two-and-one-half-year stint with a creamery in Hosensack.

            Soon after the Spinnerstown Creamery opened, it was found that the farmers were getting more money for their milk than they had before!  This brought many of the skeptics, who held out originally, into the fold and strengthened the co-op.

            In addition to processing milk, the creamery made butter and cottage cheese.

            In the late 1890s a devastating fire destroyed the original creamery building.  Some of the machinery was salvaged and a new structure was erected in its place.  It took only eight weeks to replace the burned out building with a new butter-making plant!

            The creamery was indeed a profitable operation for the farmers.  In 1922 it was reported that the Association was paying five percent interest on the shares since its inception.  However, there were a few years when six percent was paid.  That practice was abandoned when the shares were offered at public sale, and the price rose well beyond what the farmers initially invested. 

            Because of the profitability of the creamery, many "neutral" parties started to buy up the shares as a financial investment only.  The association's members decided to keep the interest percent at five to discourage outsiders.  In the 1920s there were still 85 local farmers sending their milk to the Spinnerstown Creamery.  Almost to the end of the association's life, farmers and children of the original shareholders held the shares.

            The creamery was sold to Carl Bungenstock of Spinnerstown.  The reason for its demise was that the volume of milk was no longer available and the shipping station inroads on the farm milk supply, by the use of the railroad and motorized trucks, had greatly improved.

            It has been reported that when the Spinnerstown Creamery was started there was only one other similar organization in Bucks, Berks, Lehigh or Montgomery counties.  Soon after the formation of the Spinnerstown Creamery Cooperative, many other similar organizations started up in our area.