Skinner Dairy - Final Years

Final Years

Skinner Dairy transitioned to new management in the mid-1980s. Under the new management a second wave of Milk House construction began in 1987. For unknown reasons the modernist Hardwick & Lee design was replaced by a new design (architect unknown) which was pedestrian and forgettable. The location and quantities of the second series is unknown, but it is estimated that between one and two dozen were built from 1987-95. Three Skinner's Dairy stores built in 1987 are in Clay County.

The relatively short lifespan of the second series combined with their bland appearance occasionally leads to locals misremembering that these stores were built in the manner of the earlier Hardwick & Lee design.

The dairy was sold to Velda Farms in January 1996. The land that constituted the dairy headquarters and farm was a sizable piece of property located off Bowden Rd. on the city's south side. The land was redeveloped in 2000 as an office park known as "The Silos", a reference to the land's previous appearance and function. Yet what has endured the rapid population growth and environmental changes of the last 20 years are the iconic Skinner Dairy "Milk Houses".