Borden Dairy Other Names/Site Number: N/A Name of Related Multiple Property Listing: N/A

NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form

This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in National Register Bulletin, How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions.

1. Name of Property Historic Name: Borden Dairy Other Names/Site Number: N/A Name of related multiple property listing: N/A

2. Location Street & Number: 4743 Florida Boulevard City or town: Baton Rouge State: LA County: East Baton Rouge Not for Publication: Vicinity:

3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register Criteria.

I recommend that this property be considered significant at the following level(s) of significance: national state local

Applicable National Register Criteria: A B C D

______Signature of certifying official/Title: Kristin Sanders, State Historic Preservation Officer Date Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

In my opinion, the property meets does not meet the National Register criteria.

Signature of commenting official: Date

Title: State or Federal agency/bureau or Tribal Government

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

4. National Park Certification I hereby certify that the property is: ___ entered in the National Register ___ determined eligible for the National Register ___ determined not eligible for the National Register ___ removed from the National Register ___other, explain: ______

Signature of the Keeper Date of Action

5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply.)

X Private Public – Local Public – State Public – Federal

Category of Property (Check only one box.)

X Building(s) District Site Structure object

Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count)

Contributing Non-contributing 4 1 Buildings Sites Structures Objects 4 1 Total

Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register: 0

6. Function or Use

Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions.): INDUSTRY/manufacturing facility

Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions.): VACANT/NOT IN USE 2

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

7. Description

Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions.): No style

Materials: (enter categories from instructions.) foundation: concrete walls: concrete, brick, metal panel roof: concrete, asphalt, metal panel other: glass, wood

Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current physical appearance and condition of the property. Describe contributing and noncontributing resources if applicable. Begin with a summary paragraph that briefly describes the general characteristics of the property, such as its location, type, style, method of construction, setting, size, and significant features. Indicate whether the property has historic integrity.) ______Summary Paragraph

The Borden Dairy manufacturing and distribution plant at 4743 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, is a large industrial facility constructed between 1942 and c. 1980s in a mixed heavy commercial/light-industrial zone in Baton Rouge’s Mid City neighborhood. The low-rise complex of buildings occupies a seven-acre site extending from Florida Boulevard northward to North Street and comprises 1) a 56,000 SF plant constructed in phases between 1942 and the 1970s (contributing); 2) a row of one-story warehouses situated along the site’s western boundary constructed between the 1950s and 1980s (contributing); and 3) a one-story service center at the rear of the site constructed c. 1980s (non-contributing). The 1950s and 1960s sections of the facility were designed by noted Baton Rouge architects A. Hays Town and Desmond-Miremont & Associates, respectively. The buildings were expanded and renovated over time as the company strived to keep pace with regional market demand. From 1942 until c. 2006, Borden Dairy manufactured and distributed milk and ice cream products at this location, and the company continued to use the rear of the property as a distribution center until early 2019. The primary Florida Boulevard facade (1942−59), which served as the company’s public face, is designed in the Colonial Revival style, while the remainder of the facility is distinctly industrial in appearance. The plant is currently vacant and has suffered from deferred maintenance and water intrusion due to partially collapsed roofs. Nevertheless, the property retains a high degree of exterior and interior integrity overall and remains clearly identifiable as a mid-20th century industrial facility.

______Narrative Description

Setting and Site:

The Borden Dairy manufacturing and distribution plant at 4743 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, occupies a seven-acre site that fronts on Florida Boulevard to the south and terminates at North Street to the north. The plant was among the early developments along this typical post-World War II suburban commercial thoroughfare, which expanded significantly in the 1950s and 1960s. The surrounding neighborhood is primarily zoned heavy commercial/light industrial and is characterized by a mix of low-rise commercial buildings with spacious parking lots, e.g., auto parts stores and a self-storage facility; small- to mid-size industrial facilities; and single- and multi-family housing to the north. According to a 1960 Sanborn 3

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

Fire Insurance Map, this mixed-use character has changed little since the property’s period of significance (1942−1969) (Map 1).

The buildings comprising the plant are set back from Florida Boulevard approximately eighty feet to accommodate a paved parking area for plant visitors. A painted-brick fence with a replacement wood gate marks a pedestrian entrance to the interior of the site. Chain-link fencing borders the property along the east and north boundaries, and a chain-link gate on the east side provides vehicular access from N. 48th Street. The N. 48th Street entrance served as the primary access point for delivery trucks onto the grounds, which are paved or shelled. There are no notable landscaping features.

Main Plant – contributing (photos 1-20):

The main plant is a complex arrangement of adjoining buildings and additions that can be broken down into two distinct areas: 1) a 1-story office building designed in the Colonial Revival Style (1942−59); and 2) a spacious one-story manufacturing and processing plant (1942−1970s). Throughout the facility are equipment remnants such as storage tanks and conveyor systems.

The enclosed evolution diagram illustrates the plant’s four primary phases of construction, which are defined as follows: 1) 1942 – original plant construction; 2) 1959 – major renovation and expansion; 3) 1960s – additional north and westward expansion; 4) 1970s – additional northward expansion. Each phase is described below (Exhibit 5).

1942 (Phase I): The original 1942 construction, which is shown in red on the enclosed diagram, consists of the western half of the front office building and a portion of the manufacturing plant directly to the north. The architect of this phase is unknown. The office building exterior was designed in a “Southern” Colonial Revival style, Borden’s chosen look for all of its Louisiana plants “because Borden traditions of quality are as steadfast as the traditions of the South.”1 The building is brick masonry construction with an asphalt-shingle side-gable roof and wood-frame partitions. The primary Florida Boulevard façade features a painted-brick exterior, a highly detailed pedimented entrance portico with paired Tuscan columns, a one-light entrance door with sidelights and a fanlight transom, and 9/1 double-hung wood sash windows, which are intact but boarded over and have lost their painted-wood louvered shutters. The side gables are clad in lapped wood siding. A portion of the portico roof has collapsed. The large picture windows to the right/east of the portico were resized c. 1950s. The small brick building set back from the office façade at the west end housed the milk room and once featured window openings on its front and rear façades. The front windows were infilled with CMU, presumably when the thick concrete pad in front of it was poured c. 1960s to support two raw milk tanks. A 1942 advertisement about the new plant mentions an ice cream store inside the building; the location of this store is unknown, as all trace of it was removed in later expansions and renovations. The interior of the office building features a mix of finishes dating to various renovations; original features include some terrazzo flooring; plaster ceilings with simple crown moldings, which are partially visible above suspended acoustical tile; and some plaster walls. Later finishes include ceramic tile or carpet flooring, faux-wood wall paneling, and suspended or flush acoustical tile ceilings. The original layout has not been verified, although the large room at the main entrance and the open-plan milk room appear to date to this period.

The rear façade of the office building separates the administrative activities from the manufacturing and distribution areas of the plant. According to a 1947 aerial photograph, the original plant had a rectangular footprint with a flat roof and was the same width as the office building with a central clerestory constructed in line with the entrance portico (Aerial 1). This clerestory remains intact, but the plant was significantly expanded and renovated in the 1950s, and little if any additional 1940s historic fabric remains. The 1947 aerial photograph also shows a warehouse that runs perpendicular to the rear of the plant; it was replaced with an ice cream vault addition in the 1960s.

1 “A New…Baton Rouge Home for Borden’s Ice Cream,” State-Times Morning Advocate, October 7, 1942. 4

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

1959 (Phase II): The 1959 renovation and additions occurred in response to a rapid increase in business and roughly doubled the size of the plant (purple). For this phase, which cost around $500,000, Borden hired noted local architect A. Hays Town.2 The work consisted of a large east addition to the front office building; a major eastward expansion of the manufacturing plant; a smaller western addition; and an interior renovation. The 1960 Sanborn Map shows the configuration of the facility shortly after this phase was completed (Map 1a).

The office building addition is poured-in-place concrete with CMU and brick infill walls and a false wood-frame side-gable roof. It was designed to harmonize with the 1942 Colonial Revival-style façade but is differentiated by a slightly higher roof line and wider footprint. The primary façade of the office addition features a similar fenestration pattern, 9/1 wood windows with marble sills, and a former pedestrian entrance that was marked with a simple flat-roof portico; this entrance has since been resized into a window and the portico has been removed. Like the 1942 building, the windows are boarded over and have lost their louvered shutters. The addition provided more office space, a second bathroom, and storage; c. 1960s, the eastern end was converted into an extension of the plant interior. Historic interior finishes include painted-brick exterior walls and mint-green ceramic-tile walls with quarry-tile flooring in the plant extension. The concrete-slab floor was originally covered with asphalt tile, which was recently abated due to asbestos content. Later finishes include wood-veneer wall paneling and some carpeting.

The large eastern plant expansion to the rear of the office addition is concrete construction with mint-green structural glazed tile or CMU walls covered with mint-green surface tile; a concrete floor exposed or covered with quarry tile; and a concrete roof covered in skim-coat plaster or concealed above a suspended acoustical- tile ceiling. The roof is flat. The addition begins at the east wall of the 1942 plant and extends eastward approximately 120 feet to provide a spacious new processing room, milk vault, loading docks, storage, and a partial second floor with additional bathrooms, locker rooms, mechanical rooms, and a mezzanine for storage tanks. Windows are grouped aluminum-frame awning windows. Phase II also included a western addition to the 1942 plant that housed a new ice cream vault with loading dock; this addition was incorporated into a larger vault addition in the 1960s. Finally, the interior of the 1942 plant was renovated to match the interior of the 1950s addition, with mint-green-tile walls, quarry tile floors, and plaster ceilings. In some areas of the plant, the walls and ceilings are clad in modern fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) panels, which were typically applied over older material such as asbestos-cement-based transite panels.

1960s (Phase III): Between 1960 and 1965, Borden continued to expand to the west and north (green). Working with noted Baton Rouge architectural firm Desmond-Miremont & Associates, the company expanded the 1950s ice cream vault addition westward and added a new concrete loading dock along the west facade (1960), and then further expanded the vault northward and added another concrete loading dock to the north/rear facade (1965).3 Both of these open-plan additions are steel and concrete construction with metal pipe columns, concrete-slab floors, and ceilings covered with insulated panels; the concrete loading docks have been removed. The roofs are flat. This phase also included the northward expansion of the 1950s milk vault on the east side of the plant (1965). This section has been demolished, and only the concrete foundation and loading docks remain.

1970s (Phase IV): In the early 1970s (yellow), the 1965 ice cream vault addition and loading docks on the west side of the plant were extended further to the north according to the design of local architect William Brockaway.4 This flat-roof section is steel-frame construction with concrete-slab floors and a flat roof covered with insulated panels. It has sustained the most damage due to roof collapse.

2 “Borden Co. Plans New Milk Plant,” State-Times Advocate, December 13, 1957; City of Baton Rouge, building permits, 1955 and 1957.

3 “Borden Co. Baton Rouge,” architectural drawings, 1960-65, John Desmond Papers, LSU Special Collections. 4 City of Baton Rouge, building permits, 1967. The initial foundation permit for this addition was filed in 1967, but a fire in 1968 appears to have delayed the work until the early 1970s. 5

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

Warehouses - contributing (photos 4, 5, 21-26):

The five one-story warehouses along the site’s western boundary were constructed between the 1950s and the 1980s and were used for storage and distribution. All are utilitarian in appearance; throughout, doors are flush metal swing doors or metal roll-up doors.

Warehouse A (2,470 SF), the southernmost warehouse, is concrete-block and wood-frame construction with a flat roof and was constructed in 1965 according to the design of Desmond-Miremont & Associates. The exterior walls are painted concrete block.

Warehouse B (5,763 SF), designed by A. Hays Town, was constructed in 1955 and consists of a concrete- slab floor, concrete-block walls, open-web steel roof trusses, and wood purlins. The shallow-gable roof is covered in corrugated metal and the east exterior wall is painted concrete block. This warehouse was expanded to the north c. 1980s to add another 625 SF. Warehouses A and B are connected via an interior opening.

Warehouse C (2,480 SF) was constructed in 1959 and consists of a steel frame, concrete-slab floor, and metal-panel wall and roof cladding. The west wall is concrete block. The roof is a shallow gable. The ceiling is covered in heavily deteriorated insulation panels. The architect was likely A. Hays Town, but this assumption has not been verified.

Warehouse D, the largest of the warehouses (6,430 SF), dates to the 1960s and is very similar to Warehouse C in appearance. It is constructed of a steel frame, concrete-slab floor, and metal-panel wall and roof cladding. The roof is a shallow gable. The ceiling is clad in insulation panels.

Warehouse E (4035 SF) is located at the northern end of the row and dates to the 1980s. Borden occupied the building until 2019. It was constructed as an addition to Warehouse D and is almost identical in construction method and materials. The two buildings are connected via an interior opening. The interior includes a wood-frame partitioned area housing offices and storage.

Service Center – non-contributing (photo 27):

The one-story service center is located at the northeast corner of the site. Constructed c. 1980s, it is steel- frame construction on a concrete-slab foundation. The shallow-gable roof and walls are clad in metal panels. A large covered carport dominates the west façade. The interior is built out as offices and meeting rooms, which are finished with gypsum-board walls, suspended acoustical-tile ceilings, and vinyl-tile floors. Borden occupied the building until 2019.

Assessment of Integrity:

Location and Setting: The property possesses integrity of location and setting. The buildings have not been moved. The setting, which is characterized by a mix of low-rise suburban commercial, light industrial, and single- and multi-family housing, has changed little since the period of significance as defined in Section 8.

Design, Materials, and Workmanship: The buildings possess a high degree of integrity of design, materials, and workmanship on both the exterior and interior. Borden’s hallmark “Southern” Colonial Revival−style façade retains several original features, including a side-gable roof and painted-brick exterior, 9/1 double-hung wood sash windows (boarded over), finely detailed entrance portico, and one-light entrance door with sidelights and a fanlight transom; the louvered shutters and a secondary portico are the only features that have been lost. The differentiation between this distinctive public face and the industrial character of the plant beyond remains obvious. The spatial configuration of the various facility components remains unchanged. Sanitary, easy-to- 6

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State clean finishes, such as quarry tile and terrazzo flooring, plaster ceilings, and mint-green tile walls, are intact. The vast majority of the expansion and renovation efforts occurred during the 1950s and 1960s and are historically significant in their own right because they reflect Borden’s continued investment and important position within the local dairy market. Modifications that took place after the period of significance (post-1969) do not significantly impact integrity because they are located towards the rear of the property (e.g., the 1970s and 1980s ice cream vault and warehouse additions) or are cosmetic in nature and simply conceal historic finishes (e.g., wood-veneer wall paneling, FRP panels, and carpeting). The deteriorated condition of some sections of the facility due to partial roof collapse is regrettable but does not impact integrity.

Feeling and Association: The property’s integrity of location, setting, design, materials, and workmanship combine to create integrity of feeling and association. The buildings clearly read as a former industrial facility dating to the mid-20th century. The spacious site, open-plan configuration of the plant interior, utilitarian design and industrial construction materials, equipment remnants, and sanitary finishes, among other features, all indicate the facility’s historic use. A Borden’s employee would easily recognize his/her former workplace if s/he were to visit today.

8. Statement of Significance

Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.)

X A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history

Criteria Considerations:

A Owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes B Removed from its original location C A birthplace or grave D A cemetery E A reconstructed building, object, or structure F A commemorative property G Less than 50 years old or achieving significance within the past 50 years

Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions.): commerce, industry

Period of Significance: 1942-1969

Significant Dates: 1942, 1959, c. 1965

Significant Person (Complete only if Criterion B is marked above): n/a

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

Cultural Affiliation (only if criterion D is marked above): n/a

Architect/Builder (last name, first name): Town, A. Hays; Desmond-Miremont & Associates

Period of Significance (justification): The period of significance begins in 1942, when the plant was placed in service, and ends in 1969, the current fifty-year cut-off.

Criteria Considerations (explanation, if necessary): n/a

Statement of Significance Summary Paragraph (Provide a summary paragraph that includes level of significance, applicable criteria, justification for the period of significance, and any applicable criteria considerations.)

The Borden Dairy manufacturing and distribution plant at 4743 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana is locally significant under Criterion A in the areas of commerce and industry as the primary dairy plant in the parish in the mid-twentieth century, when dairying flourished as an industry both locally and statewide. As the largest milk distributor in the United States, Borden’s decision to open one of its first Louisiana plants in Baton Rouge in the early 1940s reflected the city’s increasing importance as an industrial hub. In addition to serving the growing Baton Rouge market, the Florida Boulevard plant also became the main dairy supply center for much of Louisiana, and to fulfill this role it underwent major expansions in the 1950s and 1960s. The period of significance begins in 1942, when the plant was placed in service, and ends in 1969, the current fifty-year cut-off.

______Narrative Statement of Significance (Provide at least one paragraph for each area of significance.)

History of The Borden Company

The Borden Company traces its roots to the pioneering efforts of Gail Borden (1801–1874), a New York–born inventor, newspaper publisher, and land surveyor. In the early 1850s, decades before Louis Pasteur invented pasteurization, Borden devised a method of producing condensed milk, which involved slowly and evenly heating fresh milk in a vacuum pan. The resulting product was shelf stable, safe to drink, and transportable across great distances.5 In 1856 he received a patent for “producing concentrated milk in vacuo,” and soon thereafter opened the New York Condensed Milk Company in Wassaic, New York.6 Borden also pioneered sanitary practices in the dairy industry; farmers who wished to sell their milk to his company were required to “wash udders thoroughly before milking, sweep barns clean, spread manure away from milking stalls, and scald and dry their wire-cloth strainers morning and night.”7 By 1858, the Committee of the Academy of Medicine declared that Borden’s milk was “unequaled” in its “purity, durability, and economy.”8 During the Civil War, the United States government ordered such large quantities of condensed milk to feed soldiers that Borden’s nascent company struggled to keep up with the demand.9 Today, Borden is widely considered the father of the modern dairy industry.10 In 1919, the New York Condensed Milk Company was renamed the Borden Company in honor of its founder.

5 Carolyn Hughes Crowley, “The Man Who Invented Elsie, the Cow,” August 31, 1999, smithsonian.com. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-man-who-invented-elsie-the-borden-cow-171931492/ 6 Borden Dairy, “History,” https://www.bordendairy.com/press-room/history/. 7 Crowley, “The Man Who Invented Elsie, the Cow.” 8 Ibid. 9 Ibid. 10 “The Trotting Teacher—Became Diary Industry’s Father,” Morning Advocate, January 26, 1958. 8

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

The 1920s were a pivotal decade in Borden’s history. Between 1927 and 1930, the company acquired more than 200 companies, including ice cream and cheese manufacturers, and expanded into all regions of the country to become a nationally recognized brand.11 By 1930, Borden was the largest distributor of fluid milk in the United States.12 In 1936, the company debuted its now-iconic Elsie the Cow brand mascot. In the 1960s, the company’s name changed again to Borden Inc., and its headquarters moved from New York to Columbus, Ohio. Borden was the largest dairy operator in the world by the late 1980s, with annual sales exceeding $7.2 billion.13 Today, the company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and operates thirteen plants and about one hundred distribution centers throughout the South and Midwest.14

Dairy Industry in Louisiana

For centuries, dairy products such as milk and cheese were unstable and quick to spoil. Homemade and unregulated, dairy often became contaminated and was a common cause of illness and sometimes death, particularly among children. In rural areas, farmers produced their own dairy products for personal consumption, and in more urban areas families kept a cow or, when possible, purchased dairy products from a nearby farm. The modern dairy industry in the United States was not established until the early twentieth century, when the country’s population was flocking to cities and the demand increased for more accessible and reliable dairy products. During this period, several important technological advances made dairy industrialization possible by improving milk safety and increasing its shelf life. Perhaps the most important among these was the invention and widespread practice of pasteurization, which heated milk to eliminate spoilage-causing bacteria. Other key factors included government-mandated (USDA) sanitation standards, refrigerated tanker trucks, and the invention of automatic bottling machines.15 Dairy farmers produced the raw milk, which they sold to manufacturers such as the Borden Company to process and package into products including bottled milk, ice cream, butter, and cheese. These products reached consumers through retail stores and home delivery.

The dairy industry in Louisiana mirrored national trends. For centuries, Louisiana was a largely agrarian state, relying heavily on the sugar and cotton crops that it exported through the Port of New Orleans. In addition to the large plantations that relied on slave labor to harvest and process cotton and sugarcane, small and subsistence farmers throughout the state managed their own cotton acreage as well as other crops to feed their families and animals.16 Plantations were generally clustered near rivers, particularly the Mississippi River, for ease of transportation, while subsistence farmers were located throughout the state but tended to gather in the less developed areas of the southwest, the wooded areas of the Florida parishes (including East Baton Rouge Parish), and hilly north-central Louisiana.17 In the decades following the Civil War and Reconstruction, the state’s dependence on agriculture lessened and other industries, such as lumber and oil and gas, began to diversify the economy.18 The emerging dairy industry was soon recognized as a potential new income stream for farmers, and cattle grazing a productive use of the state’s ample farmland.

Between 1900 and 1920, dairying was heavily promoted to local farmers and other interested parties via talks and demonstrations by the College of Agriculture at Louisiana State University (LSU), along with visiting professors, government officials, and dairying equipment salesmen. In 1914, the Times-Picayune reported that “government experts predict that within a few years Louisiana will take the lead as a cattle and dairy state…based upon the climate that permits grazing in the open the whole year and the fact that each acre is

11 Borden, “Borden: 150 Years in the Making,” https://beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/borden/pdf/BordenHistory.pdf. 12 Borden Dairy, “History,” https://www.bordendairy.com/press-room/history/. 13 Ibid. 14 Ibid. 15 American Dairy Association, “Dairy Farming History,” https://www.americandairy.com/dairy-farms/dairy-farming.stml; and “Early Developments in the American Dairy Industry,” https://specialcollections.nal.usda.gov/dairy-exhibit. 16 Bennett H. Wall and John C. Rodrigue, eds., Louisiana: A History, Sixth Edition (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2014), 156-57. 17 Wall and Rodrigue, Louisiana, 163. 18 Wall and Rodrigue, 315. 9

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State capable of producing more feed than the same area in another state.”19 The Louisiana State University Creamery, one of the state’s first dairy plants, opened in Baton Rouge in 1915. The purpose of the university- owned plant was to give instruction on milk handling and manufacturing, create a market for local dairy farmers, and provide Baton Rouge citizens with “high quality…milk, cream, butter, cheese and other dairy products.”20 Other early plants were located in New Orleans, Alexandria, and Lake Charles.

The industry grew exponentially between the 1920s and the 1960s. In the early 1920s, it provided a total income of about $3 million to Louisiana farmers.21 By the early 1940s, that number had doubled to $6 million, and in 1962 it jumped to $60 million per year.22 According to the state’s first industrial directory, published in 1942, “[l]ivestock raising and dairying have come to be important in the agriculture of Louisiana.”23 The total value of the industry in 1950 was $22 million, and in the early 1960s it hit $100 million.24 In 1962, 87 dairy plants and thousands of dairy farms were in operation throughout the state.25 Adding to the success of dairy plants in Louisiana and nationwide during this period was the proliferation of ice cream products. Prior to World War II, ice cream was a luxury of ice cream parlors and restaurants that could afford commercial freezers. However, in the 1950s and 1960s, the average family could buy a home freezer, and the ice cream market exploded. In response, dairy plants expanded their offerings to appeal to a wide variety of tastes. Borden, for instance, produced dozens of ice cream flavors, sherbets, and ice cream pops, promoting its latest creations in eye-catching newspaper advertisements that were tailored to seasons and upcoming holidays (Exhibit 4).

The dairy industry in Louisiana remained healthy into the late twentieth century, when it began to decline, as it did in other states, due to “a combination of bad economics, national politics, and climate change,” according to The New Orleans Advocate.26 For instance, in the 1980s more than a thousand dairy farms were still operating in Louisiana; in 2016, there were just 119, and more are closing each year.27

The Borden Company in Louisiana

The Borden Company began distributing its milk and ice cream products in Louisiana in the 1930s and still maintains a presence today. Between the 1940s and the 1960s, it opened plants in all regions of the state: southeast (New Orleans); central (Baton Rouge, Alexandria); southwest (Lafayette); west (Lake Charles); and north (Shreveport, Monroe). The plants in these regional hubs served city residents as well as the small towns and rural areas surrounding them. Borden plants purchased raw milk from nearby dairy farms and, by the 1950s, were paying local farmers millions of dollars each year.28

The company’s first real estate investments in the state took place in 1941. That year, the company purchased the Baton Rouge Ice Cream Company, where it operated briefly, and began making plans for a new Baton Rouge plant. The company also opened a small, Streamline Moderne ice cream parlor in Lafayette at the corner of Jefferson and Johnston Streets (extant).29 Attached to the parlor was a milk cooling station, which

19 “Cattle Industry in this State Shows Promise,” The Times-Picayune, October 8, 1914. 20 “Important Work in the College of Agriculture, LSU,” State-Times Advocate, August 8, 1915; and “LSU Creamery Takes High Rank,” The Times-Picayune, December 7, 1920. 21 “La. Dairy Specialist Honored on Retirement,” State-Times, January 31, 1962. 22 “La. Dairy Specialist Honored on Retirement,” State-Times, January 31, 1962; and Louisiana Department of Commerce and Industry, Industrial Directory: State of Louisiana (Baton Rouge: State of Louisiana, 1942), 11. 23 Louisiana Department of Commerce and Industry, Industrial Directory, 10. 24 “Louisiana’s Dairying Industry Touches Peak of $22,000,000,” State-Times Advocate, February 8, 1950; and “Area Celebrates June Dairy Month – Dairying Industry Bands Together for 28th Year,” Morning Advocate, June 1, 1964. 25 “La. Dairy Specialist Honored on Retirement,” State-Times, January 31, 1962. 26 Faimon A. Roberts III: “Once a cash cow, Louisiana dairy farming becoming vanishing business, but why?” New Orleans Advocate/nola.com, July 3, 2016, https://www.nola.com/news/article_57fae45d-9f52-51b6-bac5-45a5fc234a2c.html. 27 Ibid. 28 “Birthdays Are Wonderful – in a town like Baton Rouge!” Morning Advocate, May 31, 1950. 29 “Borden Buys Local Ice Cream Factory,” Morning Advocate, May 1, 1941; and Congratulatory advertisements, The Daily Advertiser, May 31, 1941. 10

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State were essential to the dairy industry prior to the advent of refrigerated tanker trucks (demolished).30 Soon thereafter, Borden’s new Baton Rouge plant at 4743 Florida Boulevard was completed (the subject property, completed 1942) and another small plant opened in Lake Charles (demolished).31 These early sites formed an important network: raw and processed milk from the Baton Rouge plant was transported to the Lafayette cooling station, where it was chilled in a refrigerated vault before continuing its journey to the Lake Charles location.32

Evidence suggests that most if not all of Borden’s Louisiana plants were designed in a “Southern” Colonial Revival style, the most notable stylistic features of which are Classical pedimented porticoes and residentially scaled front entrances with sidelights and transoms. For instance, the large, two-story plant that opened at 1751 Airline Highway in Metairie, which is part of New Orleans’s greater metropolitan area, was “outwardly designed in keeping with the architecture of the deep South” (demolished).33 The Alexandria plant at 102 Bolton Avenue (extant), completed in 1946, is a small one-story plant that is very similar in appearance to the Baton Rouge plant.

In 1947, Borden purchased a building in Shreveport formerly occupied by the Bauman Ice Cream Company (1046 Murphy Street, demolished).34 In 1951, the company opened a small plant in Monroe (1951; demolished), and in 1966 it completed a new large, one-story plant at 1308 Bertrand Drive in Lafayette (1966; extant).35 The Lafayette facility, which is still in operation, features a Classical pedimented portico, 6/9 wood sash windows with shutters, a residentially scaled front entrance with a decorative transom, and 9-light front- gable dormers. In the 1960s, Shreveport gained its first purpose-built Borden plant at 2520 Linwood Avenue, which is also still in operation (remodeled).

In the mid-twentieth century, Borden was the leading dairy company both in Louisiana and in East Baton Rouge Parish. In Baton Rouge, competing plants were small, locally owned operations with a fraction of Borden’s production capacity. Examples include Louisiana Creamery, Inc., Butler’s Super Ice Cream, Shamrock Dairy Products, and Sunshine Ice Cream Co, among others.36 The next largest producer in Baton Rouge was Kleinpeter Farms Dairy, a combination farm-plant that entered the industry in the 1910s and processed milk from its own cows until the 1980s.37 Although all of these dairy plants were important to the state’s dairy industry, none are directly comparable to Borden in terms of size, production capacity, and economic impact.

Borden Dairy, 4743 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge

Borden arrived in Baton Rouge in 1941 with its acquisition of the Baton Rouge Ice Cream Company. In October 1942, it opened its new, modern Florida Boulevard plant, which specialized in the manufacturing and distribution of bottled milk and ice cream products. (Exhibit 1) The primary façade of the new plant was designed in a “Southern Colonial” style “because Borden traditions of quality are as steadfast as the traditions of the South. The pure architecture of the new Borden plant symbolizes the fine product produced there. And Borden’s new plant is equipped with new fast freezers that capture all the flavorful freshness of fine ingredients…new stainless steel equipment that assures utmost purity.”38

30 Guy Carwile, “It’s Got to Be Good…Borden’s Ice Cream Store,” Society of Commercial Archaeology Journal (Spring 2007): 7. 31 “A New…Baton Rouge Home for Borden’s Ice Cream,” State Times Morning Advocate, October 7, 1942. 32 Carwile, “It’s Got to Be Good…Borden’s Ice Cream Store,” 6. 33 “Here it is…My New Home!”, Borden’s advertisement, The Times-Picayune, March 11, 1949. 34 “Borden Ice Cream Firm Opens Plant Today,” Shreveport Times, March 18, 1947. 35 Monroe city directories; and “Borden Company Has Formal Opening of Lafayette Plant,” Crowley Daily Signal, May 3, 1966. 36 Louisiana industrial directories, 1947, 1951, 1954 37 Kleinpeter Dairy, “History of Kleinpeter Farms Dairy,” http://www.kleinpeterdairy.com/our_history.aspx. 38 “A New…Baton Rouge Home for Borden’s Ice Cream,” State Times Morning Advocate, October 7, 1942. 11

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

The company grew steadily in its first decade in Baton Rouge, acquiring local plants (e.g., Baton Rouge Ice Cream Company [1941] and Blue Bird Ice Cream Company [1945]) that were folded into the Borden division.39 At the end of its first decade in operation, the Florida plant had expanded “from one truck to 13, from 7 employees to 91, [and a] 1000% increase in ice cream volume.”40 The Baton Rouge plant expanded its reach beyond the Baton Rouge market and manufactured milk and ice cream for Borden outlets in Lake Charles, Lafayette, Alexandria, Shreveport, and Monroe.41 In 1953, the Baton Rouge plant spent nearly $6 million in payroll, taxes, and milk purchases from local farms compared to just $154,379 in 1941.42

In celebration of its tenth birthday, the Baton Rouge Borden’s published a full-page advertisement in the Morning Advocate in which it described itself as “growing with America’s second fastest growing city.”43 (Exhibit 2) Whether Baton Rouge was indeed the second fastest growing city in the country is unknown, but it is well documented that the population was skyrocketing: between 1930 and 1950 it increased fourfold, from 30,729 to 125,629.44

The 1950s were another decade of significant growth for Borden in Baton Rouge. In the mid-1950s, the company purchased another local plant, the Santa Maria Dairy, and in 1957 it announced plans for a major expansion. (Exhibit 3) At a cost of $500,000, the Florida Boulevard plant was renovated and expanded to nearly double its square footage (A. Hays Town, architect).45 Malcolm Y. Brian, the plant manager, explained to the State-Times Advocate that the expansion was necessary to keep up with demand for its products: “‘When a community grows as fast as Baton Rouge,’ he said, ‘it will take a lot of doing to keep pace. Supplying the growing demands of our customers has become increasingly difficult, but with our new spacious facilities we will be able to continue giving them the good service their loyal patronage deserves.’”46 The enlarged plant, which re-opened in 1959, was designed to handle very large quantities, specifically 8,000 quarts of milk per hour and over 1 million gallons of ice cream a year.47 In addition to its new production capacity, Borden’s economic investments during this period were substantial. The State-Times Advocate reported that “Borden’s buys the total dairy production of nearly 120 Louisiana farm families on the Baton Rouge area. In 1959 Borden’s has bought more than $1.5 million worth of milk and cream from Louisiana dairymen to be used in Baton Rouge.”48

Borden’s continued to serve as the leading dairy producer in Baton Rouge into the 1960s. According to an Advocate article entitled “Borden’s Plays Big Dairy Role,” this international company was a “local industry in concept and organization…the Baton Rouge operation of Borden’s supports 1,350 people, including employees, milk producers and their families.”49 During this decade, the plant was expanded again to increase the size of its milk and ice cream vaults (Desmond-Miremont & Associates, architects). In 1968, the plant was described as “Borden’s main dairy supply center for a large section of Louisiana.”50

The Florida Boulevard plant remained in operation through the end of the twentieth century, gaining more additions in the 1970s and 1980s. The manufacturing plant shut its doors c. 2006, but distribution activities continued at the site until early 2019.

39 “Borden Buys Local Ice Cream Factory,” Morning Advocate, May 1, 1941; and “Blue Bird Plant Here Acquired by Borden’s,” Advocate, January 3, 1945. 40 “Birthdays Are Wonderful – in a town like Baton Rouge!” Borden’s advertisement, Morning Advocate, May 30, 1951. 41 “Borden Co. Came to Baton Rouge in May of 1941,” Morning Advocate, November 4, 1953. 42 Ibid. 43 Ibid. 44 U.S. Bureau of the Census, “Population of the 100 Largest Urban Places: 1950,” https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab18.txt. 45 “Borden Co. Plans New Milk Plant,” State-Times Advocate, December 13, 1957. 46 “Borden’s Will Open New Plant,” State Times Advocate, November 4, 1959. 47 Ibid. 48 Ibid. 49 “Borden’s Plays Big Dairy Role,” Advocate, June 6, 1962. 50 “Dairy Plant Is Open After Costly Blaze,” State-Times Advocate, March 4, 1968.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

Criterion A – Commerce and Industry:

The Borden Dairy plant in Baton Rouge is locally significant under Criterion A in the areas of commerce and industry as the leading dairy producer in the parish at a time when the dairy industry was an important economic generator in the state. The Baton Rouge operation supported over a thousand employees, dairy farmers, and their families, and grew to serve not just the local market but a large part of Louisiana as well. It is historically significant as a major manufacturer in the parish as well as the primary purveyor of milk and ice cream products in the area. For these reasons, the property is eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Developmental History/Additional historic context information

See above

9. Major Bibliographical Resources

Bibliography (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form.)

American Dairy Association. “Dairy Farming History,” https://www.americandairy.com/dairy-farms/dairy- farming.stml.

Beatrice Co. “Borden: 150 Years in the Making,” https://beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/borden/pdf/BordenHistory.pdf.

“Borden Co. Baton Rouge,” architectural drawings, 1960-65, John Desmond Papers, LSU Special Collections.

Borden Dairy. “History,” https://www.bordendairy.com/press-room/history/.

City of Baton Rouge. “Borden Co., 4743 Florida Boulevard,” building permits, 1940s-2010s.

Crowley, Carolyn Hughes. “The Man Who Invented Elsie, the Cow,” August 31, 1999, smithsonian.com. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-man-who-invented-elsie-the-borden-cow-171931492/

Crowley Daily Signal

The Daily Advertiser

Kleinpeter Dairy. “History of Kleinpeter Farms Dairy,” http://www.kleinpeterdairy.com/our_history.aspx.

Louisiana Department of Commerce and Industry. Industrial Directory: State of Louisiana. Baton Rouge: State of Louisiana, 1942.

City directories, Monroe, Louisiana

Morning Advocate

New Orleans Advocate/nola.com 13

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

Shreveport Times

State-Times Morning Advocate

State-Times Advocate

The Times-Picayune

United States Bureau of the Census. “Population of the 100 Largest Urban Places: 1950,” https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0027/tab18.txt.

United States Department of Agriculture. “Early Developments in the American Dairy Industry,” https://specialcollections.nal.usda.gov/dairy-exhibit.

Wall, Bennett H. and John C. Rodrigue, eds. Louisiana: A History, Sixth Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2014. ______

Previous documentation on file (NPS):

__X__ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested ____ previously listed in the National Register ____ previously determined eligible by the National Register ____ designated a National Historic Landmark ____ recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #______recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # ______recorded by Historic American Landscape Survey # ______

Primary location of additional data: __X__ State Historic Preservation Office ____ Other State agency ____ Federal agency ____ Local government ____ University ____ Other Name of repository: ______

Historic Resources Survey Number (if assigned): ______

10. Geographical Data

Acreage of Property: 7 acres

Latitude/Longitude Coordinates Datum if other than WGS84:______(enter coordinates to 6 decimal places)

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

1. Latitude: 30.450856° Longitude: -91.142499° 2. Latitude: 30.453769° Longitude: -91.142625° 3. Latitude: 30.453810° Longitude: -91.141636° 4. Latitude: 30.452109° Longitude: -91.141526° 5. Latitude: 30.452114° Longitude: -91.141606° 6. Latitude: 30.450888° Longitude: -91.141550°

Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.)

The boundaries are Florida Boulevard to the south, the legal western property line to the west, North Boulevard to the north, and the legal eastern property line to the east.

Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.)

The National Register boundary encompasses the buildings and land parcels historically associated with Borden Dairy during the period of significance.

11. Form Prepared By

name/title: Gabrielle Begue/Senior Associate organization: MacRostie Historic Advisors street & number: 614 Gravier Street city or town: New Orleans state: LA zip code: 70130 e-mail: [email protected] telephone: (504) 655-9707 date: 9/20/2019 ______

Additional Documentation

Submit the following items with the completed form:

• Maps: A USGS map or equivalent (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.

• Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Key all photographs to this map.

• Additional items: (Check with the SHPO, TPO, or FPO for any additional items.)

Photographs Submit clear and descriptive photographs. The size of each image must be 3000x2000 at 300 ppi (pixels per inch) or larger. Key all photographs to the sketch map. Each photograph must be numbered and that number must correspond to the photograph number on the photo log. For simplicity, the name of the photographer, photo date, etc. may be listed once on the photograph log and doesn’t need to be labeled on every photograph.

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

Photo Log

Name of Property: Borden Dairy City or Vicinity: Baton Rouge County: East Baton Rouge State: LA Name of Photographer: Gabrielle Begue Date of Photographs: June-July 2019

01 of 27 Exterior view of Florida Blvd. façade; camera facing northeast

02 of 27 Exterior view of Florida Blvd. façade; camera facing northwest

03 of 27 Florida Blvd. entrance; camera facing north

04 of 27 Exterior view of site between plant (right) and warehouses (left); camera facing north

05 of 27 Rear view of plant/1970s ice cream vaults; camera facing south

06 of 27 Rear view of plant; camera facing south

07 of 27 1959 office addition interior looking toward 1942 office; camera facing west

08 of 27 Historic wood windows in 1942 office building; camera facing southeast

09 of 27 Main entrance with later finishes, 1942 office building; camera facing southwest

10 of 27 1959 plant interior; camera facing south

11 of 27 1959 plant interior looking toward stair to 2nd floor; camera facing west

12 of 27 1959 plant interior/double-height ceiling open to 2nd floor; camera facing west

13 of 27 1959 milk vault interior; camera facing south

14 of 27 1942 plant interior; camera facing south

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service / National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 1024-0018

Borden Dairy East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana Name of Property County and State

15 of 27 Clerestory in 1942 plant; camera facing southeast

16 of 27 Raised supervisor's office in 1942 plant; camera facing north

17 of 27 1960 ice cream vault; camera facing south

18 of 27 1965 ice cream vault addition; camera facing north

19 of 27 c. 1970s ice cream vault addition; camera facing north

20 of 27 2nd floor mezzanine; camera facing southeast

21 of 27 Warehouse A interior looking towards Warehouse B; camera facing north

22 of 27 Warehouse B addition interior; camera facing south

23 of 27 Warehouse C interior; camera facing south

24 of 27 Warehouse D interior; camera facing northwest

25 of 27 Exterior view of Warehouse E; camera facing southwest

26 of 27 Warehouse E interior; camera facing south

27 of 27 Service center exterior; camera facing northeast

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C.460 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 100 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Office of Planning and Performance Management. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, 1849 C. Street, NW, Washington, DC.

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