page_title: Meridian, Idaho
section_title: Creamery (1929–70)
hierarchical_section_title: Meridian, Idaho / History / Creamery (1929–70)
caption_attribution_description: English: Part of the Meridian Heritage Pavilion in the Meridian City Hall Plaza. Bricks from the original creamery were used to construct the building, and the Challenge Butter smokestack door, which is spotlighted, now covers a time capsule that will be opened in 2033.
context_page_description: Meridian is a city located in Ada County in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population of Meridian was 75,092 making it then the third largest city in Idaho after Boise and Nampa. Meridian is considered the state's fastest-growing city and among the fastest-growing cities in the United States. With a 2019 Census estimate of 114,161 and a 1,000 percent increase in population since 1990, the city is currently estimated as the second largest in the state.
context_section_description: The lowest days of the Great Depression brightened for area dairymen when the Ada County Dairymen's cooperative creamery began operation in 1929.  It provided milk checks to those who were members of the cooperative, enabling them to pay their taxes and provide food for their families.  Other community members hauled milk to the creamery and were employed by the creamery, whose product was Challenge Butter.
  The creamery ran 7 days a week for 40 years.  Additions and improvements were made while the plant was in full operation.  Later years saw the Wyeth Laboratories affiliate with the creamery to manufacture SMA baby formula.
  After the creamery ceased local operations in 1970, the dairymen shipped their milk to the Caldwell creamery for processing.
caption: Heritage Pavilion, Meridian City Hall Plaza, Bricks from the Original Creamery
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK EASYSHARE C813 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "480", "Image YResolution": "480", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "KODAK EASYSHARE C813 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "340", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "13848", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4176", "EXIF ExposureTime": "2481/1000000", "EXIF FNumber": "27/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:10:12 13:18:07", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:10:12 13:18:07", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "173/20", "EXIF ApertureValue": "143/50", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "143/50", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "6", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3296", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2472", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "13816", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "80", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "36", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}