Milk Depot, Park Avenue, Clifton

Source document Quoted word for word from HABS ARIZ,6-CLIFT,22-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Associated with commerce in Clifton and the development of Clifton. Description: This relatively small commercial style building is rectangular in plan and has a flat roof with parapets. It is constructed of wood frame with a stuccoed exterior. The southwest front has an asymmetrical composition, with a pair of window featured at the center of the facade and the main entry to one side. The parapet at the southwest front has raised pilasters at the corners and a raised section at the center, all capped with projecting corbels. Both the doorway and the window openings on the southwest front and southeast side have decorative lintels imitating flat-arch stonework. A rectangular wooden sign at the southwest front has been painted over. The rear of the site is over grown with landscaping.

The windows throughout the building are wood, double- hung, in poor condition; most have been boarded up. A small addition has been constructed at the rear of the building. History: This small one story frame building was constructed ca. as a refrigerated storage location for milk in Clifton. Milk and other dairy products would arrive by wagon or truck and were stored in refrigeration units until the product could be delivered to the doors of Clifton residents. It was constructed for the Clifton Dairy Company, which consisted of Milton Lines, Herbert Jessup, and Moray England. After the building was leased by William L. Lindsey who used it for a similar purpose. William A.

Lines operated dairies in Clifton and Morenci as early as providing dairy products to the families of the two mining towns using horse-drawn wagons. By Lines had incorporated his company and continued to serve the bustling mining community. Lines continued to operate in Clifton until the depression hit the local economy in In W. A. Lines' son Milton, along with Herbert Jessup and Moray England, formed the Clifton Dairy. Renewed mining activity and increased population in Clifton meant many new customers. The men constructed the Milk Depot at this time as a temporary storage facility for dairy products until they could be delivered. 1 In the three men quit the business and sold the building and equipment to Cliff Lennox.

Lennox stuck with the business for six years through the depression, but by Milton Lines returned to the dairy business. He lasted three more years. By the situation was ripe for a dedicated and enterprising person to enter the dairy business in Clifton. The advent of the Second World War increased copper prices and Phelps Dodge had begun exploiting it massive ore body MILK DEPOT I < ?s Milk Creamery) HABS No. AZ-192 (Page 2) at Morenci in William L. Lindsey, a Safford dairyman, took over the operation of the Milk Depot. 2 William L. Lindsey and his wife Addie arrived in Arizona from Oklahoma in The couple settled in Safford where they started a dairy. William Lindsey was a pioneer in bringing the innovation of pasteurization of milk to Arizona.

This process destroys bacteria in the milk that might be harmful to humans without changing the flavor or nutrition of the milk. Clifton residents had lobbied for pasteurized milk as early as without success. When Phelps Dodge renewed operations in Clifton before the war, company officials wanted a safe supply of milk for their employees and their families. The company also wanted home delivery of milk, a luxury that had been missing since the decline in the Clifton dairy business. Company officials contacted the William Lindsey and persuaded him to expand his business to Clifton. The Lindsey family continued to supply milk to Clifton until the mid-fifties when paper cartons replaced glass containers of milk.

Since the paper cartons were much lighter, demand for home delivery of milk declined as people began to purchase their own fresh milk at the market. The decline and abandonment of home delivery rendered a building such as the Milk Depot obsolete. 3 Sources (endnotes): 1. Copper Era October 4, (I, 7: June 27, (I, 5: 4); Arizona business directories for and 2. Copper Era May 25, (I, 1: 4); Arizona business directories interview with William L. Lindsey, June 2, 3. Copper Era July 17, (I, 1: 2); interview with William L. Lindsey, June 2,