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The Nickerson and Houlton farms were among the largest of <br />the local dairy and cattle businesses. In 1878, Henry Nickerson <br />built a farm at 436 3rd Street N.W. Henry was a brother of J.Q. <br />A.Nickerson, who owned much of the original townsite of Elk <br />River. By 1908, W.H. Houlton's 3,000-acre farm at Houlton <br />Siding included "400 head shorthorn of registered stock and <br />sixty angora goats for clearing brush." ,_3 The Elk River Cattle <br />Company owned by Henry C. Hastings had 600 head of <br />cattle? <br /> <br />Creameries <br /> <br />Two creameries served Elk River's dairy farmers. The first was <br />the Farmer's Coop Creamery of Elk River, a two-story frame <br />building located on Jackson Street north of the railroad. The <br />cooperative was incorporated in 1889. In 1918, the creamery <br />was leased to the Twin City Milk Producers Association, <br />another farmer's cooperative.2s By 1910 the Crescent Creamery <br />of St. Paul also occupied a Main Street location. <br /> <br />In 1921, the Twin City Milk Producer's Association built an Elk <br />River facility. Designed by Clarence Wigington of St. Paul, it <br />was located at the entrance to the city on the Jefferson <br />Highway and Main Street. 2~ The association felt that it was an <br />ideal spot for a creamery, with about 350 members in the <br />vicinity. <br /> <br />The design of the split-level, brick and tile building was <br />innovative, with gravity systems rather than pumps to move <br />milk and cream. The plant also processed cheese and <br />powdered milk? The creamery closed about 1957, when milk <br />was hauled directly to the Twin Cities for processing. The <br />building was used for City Hall and police offices and also <br />housed a tavern. It was torn down in 1991. <br /> <br />Through the twentieth century, much of Elk River's <br />agricultural land has gradually been transformed into <br />residential and commercial use, although Christmas trees and <br />nursery plants have been important new additions to <br />agricultural production. <br /> <br />Twin City Milk <br />Producer's Association <br />Creame~j in ca. 1925. <br />Razed. Photo: MHS. <br /> <br />Elk River Historic Contexts and Phase II Downtown Com~nercial Area Study <br /> 15 <br /> <br /> <br />