The Borden Milk Plant, now the home of the Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum, is a historic dairy processing plant in Fayetteville,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

History

The Borden Milk Plant was built by the Borden Company in 1927 to process raw

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

into

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

and

powdered milk Powdered milk, also called milk powder, dried milk, or dry milk, is a manufactured dairy product made by evaporating milk to dryness. One purpose of drying milk is to preserve it; milk powder has a far longer shelf life than liquid milk and do ...

. It was among the earliest industrial facilities to be established by a major U.S. company in the former Confederacy in the years after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The facility was important to the economy of Lincoln County and the surrounding region, particularly during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, when it provided the only source of cash income for the area's farmers. In its first month of business, it paid $25,000 to the farmers who supplied raw milk. At its peak of operation, it had 75 employees and obtained milk from over 1,200 dairy farmers in the area. Local hog farmers used

whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard c ...

from the plant (a byproduct of milk processing) as a supplementary feed for their hogs. In its later years, the plant produced

cottage cheese Cottage cheese is a curdled milk product with a mild flavour and a creamy, heterogeneous, soupy texture, made from skimmed milk. An essential step in the manufacturing process distinguishing cottage cheese from other fresh cheeses is the additio ...

from skimmed milk. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it supplied dried eggs and dried milk to the U.S. military. The milk processing plant closed in 1962. In 1988 the facility was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as the "Borden Powdered Milk Plant".

Museum

The Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum, which is housed in the former milk plant, has of exhibit space. The history of agriculture in the local area is a major focus of the museum. Other exhibits include a large collection of Native American artifacts, an electric train display, and items related to the military career of U.S. Admiral

Frank Kelso Frank Benton Kelso II (July 11, 1933 – June 23, 2013) was an admiral of the United States Navy, who served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1990 to 1994. Early life Kelso was born in Fayetteville, Tennessee, on July 11, 1933. He attended public ...

, a native of Fayetteville.

References

External links

Fayetteville-Lincoln County Museum & Event Center
- official site {{National Register of Historic Places Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Buildings and structures completed in 1927 Buildings and structures in Lincoln County, Tennessee History museums in Tennessee Museums in Lincoln County, Tennessee Dairy buildings in the United States Agricultural buildings and structures in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Lincoln County, Tennessee