Dodge City Ice Cream & Produce Co. Then and Now

501 W Chestnut Street – Dodge City, Kansas

It’s easy to take ice cream for granted but it used to be a really big deal. If families made it at home, it was super messy and had to be stored in the ice cellar. Some restaurants, like the Beatty and Kelley, made small batches in the 1870s. In the early 1900s, local confectioneries like Sturgeon’s and Gwinner’s sold ice cream treats but you couldn’t just grab a pint at the grocery store and throw it in your freezer at home.

In April of 1917, A. L. Eidson and Ernest W Nickels of Liberal announced they were building an ice cream factory at the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue and Front Street where Adobe Walls survivor Andy Johnson previously lived. The McCollom brothers constructed a one-story concrete block building measuring 50×60 feet, which was completed the following month.

Dodge City Ice Cream & Produce Co. began buying cream that June. Their equipment could produce 300 gallons of ice cream and 700 pounds of butter daily.

When production began, their butter was initially sold under the Prairie Gold brand (later Prairie Maid) and was available in grocery stores. The company delivered quart-size containers of sweet milk and cream, as well as Bulgarian and plain buttermilk. Peerless Ice Cream was sold to local establishments to be served at their soda fountains.

In December of 1917, the company bought both the Jersey Dairy and Friesland Farm Dairy and moved all of their equipment to Fourth and Front. Once the milk situation was sorted, a poultry department expansion was undertaken in the Spring of 1918.

Due to high demand, a new butter churn tripled their production capacity that May. A six-ton refrigerator plant was also installed.

The business was incorporated in June of 1918 with $25,000 of capital stock. Officers were A. L. Eidson, President; James P McCollom, Vice-President; and Ernest Nickels, Secretary-Treasurer. Its poultry operation shipped six tons of dressed turkeys for Thanksgiving dinners that year but they also sold ducks and geese.

John Cannon sold his Coca-Cola bottling operation to Dodge City Ice Cream around 1919 and expansion continued in 1920. A large brick addition was constructed at the north end of the building where the home of Fred and Anna Cummins had stood. This property had previously been owned by Dodge City mayor Adolphus Gluck and was used as the Fourth Ward polling location for several years.

The creamery remained in the southeast corner of the original building with the poultry department on the west side. Ice cream was manufactured in the basement of the brick addition and was carried upstairs in an elevator, which was positioned in the middle of the building. The office, furnished with fixtures purchased from the State Bank of Dodge City, was located at the northeast corner of the main floor and the supply room in the northwest corner.

John Cannon repurchased the Coca-Cola operation in the Spring of 1926. The company continued distributing Prohibition-compliant beverages such as Arnholz coffee and Blatz Brewing Company’s Old Heidelberg near beer.

They also sold wholesale soda fountain supplies.

The company was purchased by the newly formed Southwest Cooperative Produce Association in June of 1933. However, this entity was short-lived in a market increasingly dominated by Fairmont Creamery Co.

By the mid-1930s, J. M. Maricle and Co. used the facility for the distribution of wholesale groceries. After they relocated to Woodland Avenue, the building became home to the Dodge City Cream Station and Dodge City Wholesale Grocery. John Pressney, who founded the Dodge City Fruit Exchange, diversified into warehousing, beer distribution, and Seidlitz paint sales.

Pressney advertised Seidlitz paints at the bottom of Boot Hill in 1940. On the other side of Anawalt-Cambell, you can see the building was painted with signs for both Dodge City Warehouse Company and Dodge City Fruit Exchange

By the early 1950s, Pressney was selling real estate and running for mayor. The beer distribution business was acquired by Sunflower Sales Co. and later Colby Distributing Co.

A Pabst Blue Ribbon beer sign can be seen on the roof in the Summer of 1954 when Baldwin Locomotive Works No. 1139 was relocated to Boot Hill Museum.

At the far right, a little sliver of ghost sign is showing.

Howdy Mus Company was briefly located in the old concrete block section along Fourth Street in the mid-1950s followed by Kansas Fixture Company. Dodge City Warehouse also shared some space in the complex. The building sat vacant from around 1960 to 1962, when a second location of the Branding Iron western store occupied the space on Chestnut. This store was only open for a short time, despite its prime location across from Boot Hill. By 1966, the brick section was occupied by the Dodge City Rock Shop. L & D Distribution Co. took up the original concrete block section.

The west side of the building is shown here with the Mammel’s sign on the wall in 1969.

The building was demolished, along with the rest of Front Street, as part of the Urban Renewal project in 1970.

This is how the former site of Dodge City Ice Cream & Produce Co. looks today:

When the Urban Renewal proposition was put to a vote, many people felt tricked by the wording on the ballot. A lot of money was at stake and trust was lost in the process. That cycle has been repeating with wind and solar farms and now data centers. Growth is inevitable. It’s how you go about it that matters.

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