California-Nevada Creamery Company Records

The California-Nevada Creamery Company was incorporated in 1892 and was the successor to the Nevada Creamery and Commercial Company. The company made and sold condensed milk, cheese, and butter from milk supplied by member farms in the Carson, Mason and Smith Valleys, Nevada; Lyon County, Nevada; and Novato, in Marin County, California. In 1893, the company began raising and selling grain and hogs. It was a cooperative effort by a number of dairy farmers in Nevada and California to market their products and enjoy the benefits of bulk purchasing of supplies.

Dairying began in the Carson Valley in 1851 with the original Mormon settlers. They utilized the water and grassland resources to produce dairy products for both themselves and emigrants passing through to the California gold fields. Despite the importance of this industry to 19th century Nevada, there are few historical evaluations of the industry other than technical manuals on "how to" dairy. At this point, there are also few other known records of the industry in the area other than those of the California-Nevada Creamery Company. These are unique records and a valuable resource for writing the scholarly history of the 19th century dairy industry in western Nevada.