It wasn't that long ago when farming ruled the fertile soil of our four-county-corner of the Commonwealth, where Berks, Bucks, Lehigh and Montgomery County meet.

The Spinnerstown Creamery started in 1879 and was the  product of one of the earliest farmers cooperative assoc- iations in Berks, Bucks, Lehigh, and Montgomery Count- ies.

            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.  More than a century ago many 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 around here, creameries were one such example.

            During the late 1800's many of the local butter and cheese processing facilities were privately owned and operated – most were in your own home.  Commercial operations were mostly 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 transportation to get a fair price for their milk and butter?  For the most part

A dog treadmill, like this one, was hooked up to the butter barrel to help with the chore of churning butter.

they churned the butter on their own farms and sold it to traveling hucksters at ridiculously low prices.

            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

A farmer turns the budderfass (butter barrel) while his  wife weighs and prints the butter.  Before cooperatives were established many farmers who made butter, sold it  to hucksters at cheap prices.

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 the late 1870's William Shelly, Edwin Roeder, and Henry Shelly fostered a movement to start a creamery in Spinnerstown and have someone hired to churn the butter.  There 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.

            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. Wieand was elected superintendent.  Wieand ran the creamery for over 40 years, interrupted only by a 2-½ 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.

            Around 1900 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 per cent interest on the shares since its inception.  However, there were a few years when six per cent 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 uninterested 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 1920's there were still eighty-five 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.

            It has been reported that when the Spinnerstown Creamery was started in 1879 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.

            After 56 years the cooperative was dissolved and the creamery was sold in 1935 to Carl Bungenstock of Spinnerstown.  Under the new ownership the creamery continued to make cottage cheese and butter.  The reason for the dissolution was that the former volume of milk was no longer available.