Creamer’s Dairy on a sunny August morning
I am working on a drawing of Creamer’s Dairy and popped out there yesterday to check on some building details. While I was there I took some more photos. At left is a photo showing (from left to right) the farmhouse, creamery, and barns.
Below is a close-up detailing the ventilators on top of the barns.
The State of Alaska owns the land and buildings. They are part of Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge. However, the non-profit organization, Friends of Creamer’s Field (FCF) is beginning restoration work on the barns, creamery and parts of the old farmhouse. This summer they have been painting the buildings’ exteriors.
To the left is a shot of the farmhouse. It is used cooperatively by the Department of Fish and Game and the FCF for environmental and nature education.
The core of this building is an old log cabin, moved three miles in the early 1900s from the dairy’s previous location just across the Chena river from downtown Fairbanks.
The photo to the right shows the barns from the other side of the farmhouse. It gives you a better idea of the size of the barns. The largest barn is 110 feet long, 36 feet wide, and has a huge loft large enough to hold sufficient hay to get 50+ cows through a long Fairbanks winter. The second barn (attached end to end) is almost as big, but doesn’t has as big a loft.
To the left is a photo of the old manager’s house and bunkhouse. At the peak of the dairy’s business it employed between 12 and 16 people at the dairy and out in the fields.
Below is a close-up of one of the barn ventilators, prime roosting territory for pigeons (at least when it’s not migration time and hawks are moving through the area).
