Search
Close this search box.

Wednesday, March 27th -Please note, the Museum’s Bruce Gallery (Thread of the Story exhibit) will be CLOSED.

EASTER WEEKEND HOURS

Friday March 29 – Good Friday – Closed
Saturday March 30 – Open
Sunday March 31 – Closed
Monday April 1 – Easter Monday – Closed

Please note: The Museum’s historic outdoor structures are closed for the season!

Museum Hours

Monday 10 AM - 5 PM
Tuesday 10 AM - 5 PM
Wednesday 10 AM - 5 PM
Thursday 10 AM - 5 PM
Friday 10 AM - 5 PM
Saturday 10 AM - 5 PM
Sunday Closed

Archives Hours

Monday 10 AM - 4:30 PM
Tuesday 10 AM - 4:30 PM
Wednesday 10 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursday 10 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday 10 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday 10 AM - 12 PM and 1 PM - 4:30 PM
Sunday Closed

General Admission

Individual $8.00 + HST
Children (4-12) $4.00 + HST
Student $6.00 + HST
Senior $6.00 + HST
Archives $6.00 + HST
Children (3 & under) FREE

Membership & Passes

Enjoy the many benefits of Membership. Not only will you receive FREE admission for a whole year, but so much more!

 

                            Fees & DiscountsJoin Today

Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre​

33 Victoria Street North (in the town of Saugeen Shores)
Southampton, ON Canada N0H 2L0

Toll Free: 1-866-318-8889 | Phone: 519-797-2080 | Fax 519-797-2191

museum@brucecounty.on.ca

Get Involved

Donations

Our success is made possible, in part, by the support we receive through our strong relationships with you, our donors. Your generosity ensures that we will continue to inspire, educate and remain the premier destination of choice for exploring our history.

Volunteer

Volunteers are the building blocks of our Museum. All our activities and programs depend on the assistance of dedicated volunteers.

Dairies & Creameries

Home | Stories & Artefacts | Dairies & Creameries

If you wish to use or purchase any of these images, please contact archives@brucecounty.on.ca

Most early settlers didn’t have traditional farm animals at the time of settlement, but once they became more established, herd animals such as sheep and cows were raised for their meat and other biproducts such as milk and cheese. Milk pails, cream cans, and several different styles of butter churns were standard farming equipment.  Dairy products were often bartered at local general stores for other goods, or for store tokens to be used at a later date.  In this way, farmers could support themselves as well as supplement their income.

As time went on and communities grew, cheese factories, dairies and creameries began to spring up throughout the County.  Some of the early companies included the Burgoyne Cheese Company, Dunkeld Butter and Cheese Manufacturing, and the Teeswater Creamery.  By the turn of the 20th Century, as villages and towns became larger and the demand for dairy products rose, creameries and dairies were in most larger communities in Bruce County. 

Early cheese factories and dairies often purchased milk from locals either directly or by using collectors, who gathered the milk in large cans and took it to the dairy.  Examples from Bruce County include John Oswald of Arran Township who delivered milk to the Cantire Cheese Factory and John W. Rogers of Maple Hill, who took what he collected to the Dunkeld Butter and Cheese Manufacturing.  Rogers was paid $1.45 per trip.  Once the milk and cream were processed, they were delivered to customers.  Large cans were taken by horse and wagon to various customers and the milk man doled out the desired amount from the large cans using a measured cup.  With the standardization of pasteurization taking place in Ontario during the late 1930s, the large cans and measuring cups were replaced with sterilized glass bottles sealed with paper caps.

Bruce County can boast that is has one of the oldest creameries in Canada in the Teeswater Creamery, established in 1875, which was the second in Canada and the first in Ontario.  It has gone through many owners, today being owned by Gay Lea Foods Co-Operative, and transformations, including adding poultry and egg grading and distribution, and has been in business continually for nearly 150 years.

To discover more about creameries and dairies in the online collection Click Here

Share this:

Related

A boy looking at Last Frontier Ehibit
This exhibit offers programming counters that provide space for community groups to demonstrate their skills and extend opportunities to teach visitors about a simpler
image of the electronic head with sunglasses that light up
Rise of Community links both the global and local impacts of technology. It reveals stories of community and technological growth within Bruce County that