Grapevine Dairy Producers Building

Grapevine Dairy Producers Building. . , "Running a dairy was a commitment, twenty hours a day, but Mayor Willis Pirkle did it well. He was not only a good businessman but also had a lot of common sense. He has been an inspiration to me, a good example, and he is one of the best men that I have ever known." , - William D. Tate, In 1845, when the settlers came to Texas, most families brought a cow with them that provided milk, butter and cheese for the family. As towns grew, a market for milk and milk products developed and farmers started selling milk to people who lived in town., The Trigg Dairy located south of Grapevine was the first dairy to sell milk here. The William Bogart family was another important local dairy family who started the Golden Gate Dairy. They owned 800 Jersey cows and operated four dairy farms southwest of Grapevine., There were 79 dairies in the Grapevine area. Where did they all go? Construction of the Grapevine Dam and Reservoir began in the late 1940s and opened in 1952; construction of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport began in the late 1960s and opened in 1974. These two projects took away much of Grapevine's farmland. Other farms were sold and were replaced with new houses and businesses., Today, Grapevine's dairies are no more, but they are remembered for the great economic contributions they made to growing Grapevine for more than six decades on the Grape Vine Prairie. Much of the same processes that are used in a dairy to preserve and process milk to make curds and cottage cheese are the same processes used to make wine. Perhaps we still get a glimpse of the care the dairy men took to produce good milk and cheese in the work that viticulturists and wine makers do to produce good wine. You can see many of Grapevine's dairy items on display in the Grapevine Historical Museum located on the west side of this complex and at historic Nash Farm., The ground floor of this building provides a Main Street vehicular entrance to the public parking area for the 636 South Main Complex. A stone base supports the milk-washed brick of the building above. Two arched pedestrian portals which flank the vehicular entrance and brick laid in a running bond pattern complete the first floor level. Roman numerals in the cast stone sign panel reveal 2010, the year the building was erected. Corbelled brick supports the brick railing of the terrace overlook The second floor has four-over-one wood windows and wood doors with cast stone spandrels above the windows and projecting brick pilasters. The arched cast stone sign panel features the building name, “Grapevine Dairy Producers.", This façade celebrates the work ethic of the dairy farmers who became important community leaders. , Dedicated May 18, 2012