Life and Times
The history of the St. Bonifacius creamery building
By Angeline Gast-Sabo
If any of you have driven through St. Bonifacius to get to Waconia, Excelsior, or points west of there, you probably sat on Main Street at the south end of town waiting for the signal to change. There on that very corner sits a century old landmark that not only has a rich history in its own right, but also has many pleasant memories for area residents. I am of course talking about the old St. Boni creamery.
Back in 1896, Felix Logelin, a Minnetrista pioneer, was a major player in overseeing the construction and operation of the first creamery in St. Boni. That creamery was located almost directly across Highway Seven from the present creamery building. With its large wood framed building and tall smoke stack, it was a very modern building for its time. Area farmers lined up along the dirt road in front of the building to wait their turn to unload their milk cans of cream. This time spent waiting was a time to catch up on town news or just visit with neighbors and friends. In a few years, the present creamery building would be constructed and used for many years for a variety of businesses.
According to the tax rolls in St. Bonifacius, the new creamery was built in 1900. The building was impressive for its time and had an off white stucco exterior with many tall narrow windows, a steep shingled roof and easy access to a high loading dock for farmers to move their milk cans. The owners of the creamery called the business the New Model Creamery.
George Logelin, who was born about 1878, and was the son of Felix and Maria Logelin, was in charge of the day to day operation of the creamery for eight years. Then in 1904, he left the business and took a job with the local hardware store. His old position at the creamery was filled by Albert Kunze who was assisted by Lou Wirtz.
Farmers generally came to the creamery each day to deliver their cans of cream. How often they made the trip to the creamery depended on the breed of the cows and how many animals a farmer owned. Some breeds would give more milk than others, so some farmers would only need to drive to the creamery every other day or perhaps every third day. If a farmer had a separater, he would take the cream off and take that to the co-op. Since horses and wagons were used for transportation, this was a lighter and easier load for him to handle. Skim milk brought in very little profit, so some farmers fed this to the pigs.
Across the state, the New Model Creamery gained a fine reputation for itself as a being a maker of great tasting butter. Until the existence of co-op creameries, farm women were expected to churn butter for their own families and sell what they could to local stores for much needed extra cash. Many of the women were able to keep this money for themselves depending on circumstances of the family. Having a creamery located close-by proved to be invaluable to farmers.
In 1927, James Grathwol, a dairy farmer from the Excelsior, Minnesota area, bought the New Model Creamery. He had come to St. Albans Bay in Excelsior in the early 1920s and soon afterwards started a dairy farm known as Shores Acres Jersey Farms. It was located at the intersection of St. Albins Bay Road and Manor Road. His son John, who had a degree in agriculture was put in charge of the operation of the New Model Creamery.
Five years later in late May of 1931, Grathwol then sold the creamery to Harry Gordhammer. For about six months prior to Gordhammer taking ownership, the creamery had been closed. Gordhammer was well known in the creamery business due to his ownership of a large successful creamery in Minneapolis. While the New Model Creamery was closed, Gordhammer had been accepting shipments of cream from area farmers at his Minneapolis facility. An interesting note to add here is that Harry Gordhammer had once worked for James Grathwol at the New Model Creamery. He worked there about fifteen years before he bought it.
The Depression was now in full swing and it was tough going for businesses to stay afloat. During this time the New Model Creamery went bankrupt, closed its doors and called it quits. It would be during the height of the Second World War before another business would try its luck in the old building.
When 1943 rolled around, Anton “Tony” Segner and his wife Genevieve decided to buy the old creamery and turn it into a bait shop. Tony did extensive remodeling of the building and added a large pool for bait on the south side of the building. He had an excellent reputation as a seller of some of the finest bait in the state. His business catered to both wholesale and retail trade with resort owners and liveries being some of his largest customers. Anglers from all towns all around St. Boni knew this was the place to go to get the freshest bait at fair prices.
Tony Segner, along with Percy C. Duehn then opened another business in that same location. In 1947, the two of them pooled together to open the Duehn Motor Company. It was body shop that they ran for a time. Shortly after that, a restaurant was put into service on the same site.
Once again the building is sold. In 1950, Tony Segner sold the property to Tom Jaekel and a Mr. Ellsworth. Jaekel had been in the restaurant business in Minneapolis for twenty-two years. Thereafter, he purchased and ran a resort in Crosby, Minnesota. He sold his resort prior to buying the creamery building. Once he did some remodeling of the building, he opened a restaurant and added a gas pumps. The restaurant was called the Pioneer Café.
In 1951, Tony Segner bought back the property from Jaekel and Ellsworth. Then the café and gas pumps were leased to a William Mertz, who continued on with the Pioneer Café name.
Phillips 66 products were sold at the creamery site with J. B. Connors being the dealer in 1959. From 1965 to 1971, Skelly products were sold there. 1977 was the last year gas was available.
Myron, (Bud) Segner leased the building and continued on with the restaurant and gas pumps. The place would now be known as Bud’s Pioneer Café and Phillip’s 66 Station.
From 1978 to 1979, Arnold Ebert and Alan Gothmann opened a retail business together. They sold sporting goods for this period and then went out of business.
Over the years, the creamery had several different tenants making their home in the living quarters in the rear of the old creamery building. The quarters were small but had a bedroom, small living room, bathroom and a kitchen area. Among those that rented this space were: Mr. and Mrs. William Mertz, Andy Nimmer in 1952, John Joachim in 1954, John Marvin in 1963, Myron Segner in 1964, Fred Ast, Rosalie Carslide in 1969, Clarence Scott in 1969, Donald Nuebauer, Mr. and Mrs. Ron Caliviar in 1973.
After her husband passed away, Genevieve Segner also made her home in the back rooms of the creamery. It was during this time that she faithfully attended daily Mass at St. Boniface Catholic Church in St. Bonifacius. Each Tuesday and Thursday morning after attending Mass, she would invite some of the ladies of the parish down to the old creamery to have a potluck lunch and have a quilting bee. The group of women, known as the St. Boni Quilters, sewed quilts and visited until five o’clock in the afternoon. It was a pleasant time for all of them. Today the ladies are still quilting but do so in a fellowship room at a local church.
There are so many wonderful memories for the people of St. Bonifacius area who ever had a meal at the Pioneer Café, filled their cars with gas, bought some fresh bait, brought in some cream for processing, or just drove by the old creamery building. For many who were teenagers during the 1950s, the café was a place to “hang out” after school. A cold glass of cola, some hot tunes from the radio and a lot of school day gossip made this place a haven for any kid with a few dimes in their pockets. Adults as well enjoyed the friendly and cozy atmosphere with its knotty pine walls and tidy lunch counter. Many St. Boni residents dropped by in the morning for a steaming cup of coffee and to share a laugh or two with other patrons.
About two and a half years ago, Tom Miller and Tom Parker purchased the land and building from the children of Tony and Genevieve Segner. Tom Miller, who owns a couple of Subway sandwich shops in Mound and Watertown, has plans to build a small strip mall close to the creamery area. With the massive amount of rehabilitation costs to renovate the creamery building, it seemed enviable that one day the old landmark would meet its match with a ball and wrecker. No date has been set for the demolition but sometime down the road the New Model Creamery will be not much more than a memory.
Note: (for your info) *
There is some dispute on which Minnesota town opened the first creamery. Clark's Grove Cooperative Creamery in Freeborn County lays claim to having the first operational creamery in the state. Founded in 1890 by members of a Danish community, the creamery soon thrived. The third creamery building that Clark's Grove erected is still fully operational today and is designated as a Minnesota historical site. Yet, just to west of Waconia and located in McLeod County is another town who claims to have had the first creamery. Carl Hagen, who was of German origin, founded the Biscay Creamery in 1889. Hagen, who learned the dairy business while living in Long Grove, Illinois, brought with him the learned knowledge of how to tie the community and industry together to form a good working partnership. The creamery located in the small farming community of Hassan Valley Township, borders Hutchinson. By 1898, three were 560 cooperative creameries in Minnesota.