Newens Sanitary Dairy Historic District

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Newens Sanitary Dairy Historic District
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Location 2225 and 2300-2312 University Ave.
Des Moines, Iowa
Coordinates 41°36′1″N93°38′52″W / 41.60028°N 93.64778°W / 41.60028; -93.64778 Coordinates: 41°36′1″N93°38′52″W / 41.60028°N 93.64778°W / 41.60028; -93.64778
Area less than one acre
Architectural style Late 19th and early 20th century American movements
NRHP reference # 03000062 [1]
Added to NRHP December 17, 2003

The Newens Sanitary Dairy Historic District is located in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. It consists of three buildings, the former dairy buildings and the Newens’ family home. The district has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2003. [1]

Des Moines, Iowa Capital of Iowa

Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857. It is on and named after the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the early French name, Rivière des Moines, meaning "River of the Monks". The city's population was 217,521 as of the 2017 population estimate. The five-county metropolitan area is ranked 89th in terms of population in the United States with 634,725 residents according to the 2016 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, and is the second largest metropolitan area in the state after that of Omaha, Nebraska, which includes three counties in southwest Iowa.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

Contents

Dairy Plant

The Newens family began the dairy around 1910. Lynn Newens ran the business out of his home on 26th Street. In 1913 the business moved to 2300-2306 University Avenue. Three years later it expanded to 2300-2312. In 1918 the dairy bought the last two lots on University. The Newens’ built a new building in 1922. [2]

At the time the dairy was founded developments were being advanced in the dairy industry and cities such as Des Moines started supervising dairy sanitation. In 1910 Des Moines hired their first city milk inspector. Newens Sanitary Dairy communicated their intent to produce a fresh, quality safe product. They also used their family name in the company name to back up the product with an established reputation. Adrian Newens, Lynn's brother and company president, had been a professor of oratory at nearby Drake University and Iowa State College before starting a successful speaking career. [2] The dairy's name was shortened to Newens Dairy Co. in the 1920s and to Newens-Northland Co. after it merged with their competitor Northland Dairy and Furnas Ice Cream company in 1929. The business moved from University Avenue in 1935 and the company made one last name change in the 1940s to the Northland Milk Co.

Drake University Private university in Des Moines, Iowa

Drake University is a private, co-educational university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in business, law and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the twenty-five oldest in the country.

Iowa State University public research university in Ames, Iowa, United States

Iowa State University of Science and Technology, generally referred to as Iowa State, is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. It is the largest university in the state of Iowa and the third largest university in the Big 12 athletic conference. Iowa State is classified as a research university with "highest research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Iowa State is also a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), which consists of 60 leading research universities in North America.

The dairy complex comprised a front office, milk processing and bottling area, vehicle storage and a stable for the horses. The stable was on the second floor above the vehicle storage building, which was separate from the rest of the operation. Horses were used to transport the milk until the early 1940s when a stable in a different location was destroyed in a fire that killed 22 horses.

Deliveries of dairy products started at midnight. The dairy bought milk from local farmers and in order to deliver it the milk had to be tested, clarified, pasteurized and bottled. The two main reasons the milk was processed was to destroy human pathogens through pasteurization and to maintain product quality. Pasteurization was not required so not all dairies did it because of the added expense. The dairy needed to maintain strict cleanliness of the facility. Newens advertised, “Pasteurized Milk and Cream, Buttermilk and Cottage Cheese" and "You are invited to inspect our plant at any time. We pride ourselves on our cleanliness.” [2]

Clarified butter

Clarified butter is milk fat rendered from butter to separate the milk solids and water from the butterfat. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to separate by density. The water evaporates, some solids float to the surface and are skimmed off, and the remainder of the milk solids sink to the bottom and are left behind when the butterfat is poured off. This butterfat is the clarified butter.

Newens also was part of the Des Moines Milk Dealers Bottle Exchange, Inc. It was a local trade group that washed and returned empty bottles from participating dairies. Lynn Newens probably served as an officer. [2] Once Newens merged with Northland much of the University Avenue plant was left vacant. The bottle exchange was moved into the facility from 1934 to 1947. Newens-Northland retained ownership of the building and rented it to other businesses. It sold the buildings in 1951 to the Biermann family. Harry Biermann operated an electrical shop out of the former dairy's front office. His sons joined him in the business. Eventually they branched out into electrical engineering and became the Biermann Electric Co. They utilized the former dairy processing area and vehicle storage building, and rented the storefronts and offices to various tenants over the years. Biermann Electric sold the building to 2300 University Avenue L.L.C. in the fall of 2001.

House

Lynn Newens and his wife Susan, who worked as the company's bookkeeper, and their daughter moved into a house to the east of the dairy at 2220 University Avenue around 1913. [2] The 1916 city directory shows the Newenses were living across the street at 2225 University Avenue. It is a large Victorian house on a corner lot. It was on the diagonal from the dairy. Lynn and Susan lived in the house for more than 15 years. After Susan's death, Lynn moved to his daughter's house nearby. Carman G. Mount, dairy "plant man", and his family moved into the house and lived there until about 1938. The Newens family continued to own the house until the mid-1940s.

Victorian architecture series of architectural revival styles

Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. Victorian refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian were used in construction. However, many elements of what is typically termed "Victorian" architecture did not become popular until later in Victoria's reign. The styles often included interpretations and eclectic revivals of historic styles. The name represents the British and French custom of naming architectural styles for a reigning monarch. Within this naming and classification scheme, it followed Georgian architecture and later Regency architecture, and was succeeded by Edwardian architecture.

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Milk white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals

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Pasteurization or pasteurisation is a process in which certain packaged and non-packaged foods are treated with mild heat, usually less than 100 °C (212 °F), to eliminate pathogens and extend shelf life. The process is intended to stabilize foods by destroying or inactivating organisms and enzymes that contribute to spoilage, including vegetative bacteria but not bacterial spores. Since Pasteurization is not sterilization, and does not kill spores, a second "double" pasteurization will extend the quality by killing spores that have germinated.

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Jennifer Irsfeld James. "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form—Newens Sanitary Dairy Historic District". National Park Service . Retrieved 2012-02-06. with photo(s)