Branchville Creamery Closed Permanently
Branchville--After more than a half-century of operation,
the Sussex Milk and Cream Company has ceased operation here. This was
announced yesterday (Wednesday) by an official of the Borden Milk Company,
New York City.
Edward Jensen, superintendent of country plants for
Borden, announced that the company reached the decision after weeks
of deliberation following the boiler explosion and fire at the plant
on July 17.
Jensen said the 52 patrons who had been using the Branchville
creamery have all been notified of the action and have been reassigned
to other creameries. A total of 47 of these elected to use the creamery
in Sussex, and five chose Blairstown, Jensen said.
Jensen said the Borden Company's decision was based
on the cost of repairing the boiler, which he estimated to be between
$10,000 and $15,000, the present market situation, and the current litigation
concerning the New Jersey milk industry.
Factors Weighed
He said these factors were weighed heavily against
a "sense of responsibility the Borden Company feels after many years
of operation in Branchville." He said the decision was reached when
it was determined that it was the economical thing to do under the circumstances
and when it was determined that all 52 patrons have other nearby markets
to deliver their milk.
Jensen also pointed out that over the last three decades
the volume of milk delivered has depreciated more than half. Clarence
Platts, supervisor of the Branchville Creamery, said that the peak of
production was approximately 27 years ago when 114 patrons brought in
approximately 1,500 cans of milk per day.
Platts points out this has dwindled to the present
52 patrons bringing in approximately 700 cans of milk daily.
Platts is one of four employees affected by the shutdown.
however, Jensen announced that so long as Platts had only a year to
go for retirement, the company decided to waive the year and allow him
to retire effective Oct. 1. The three workers at the plant have been
"let go," Jensen said.
According to Samuel Silverman, local dry goods store
operator, the Sussex milk and Cream was formerly known as Fullboam's
Creamery and has been in operation since about 1905. He said Borden
bought Fullboam out at about that time. The creamery was then located
where the present Hoos and Fletcher building is located. The present
creamery was constructed by Borden in 1940 on ground leased from the
Lackawanna Railroad.
Silverman said he recalls that the old plant at one
time employed approximately 30 persons when milk was bottled there and
the milk was carted in by "beautiful horse-drawn wagons" provided by
Borden's. He said in those days, also, that Borden leased both Upper
and Lower Electric Pond, owned by the late Charles H. Crisman to "harvest
the ice from the ponds" for use in the creamery. He said the company
built a huge ice plant at the Upper Electric Pond and constructed a
large chute from the lower down to another ice plant adjacent to the
creamery.
The explosion and fire which spelled the doom of the
plant occurred when the safety valve on a huge boiler failed to operate
correctly and created a build-up of pressure inside the boiler.
[Picture Caption: CREAMERY CLOSED... Branchville--After
22 years of servicing local dairy farmers from this plant and for more
than 30 years prior at another plant in Branchville, the Borden Milk
Company announced this week that the Sussex Milk and Cream has shut
down for good. A recent boiler explosion and fire was primarily responsible
for the decision, Borden officials said.]