When Colorado Springs was first settled, the pioneers were mostly self-sufficient. There were businesses and stores that supplied the goods and services necessary for survival, but compared to the way we live in the twenty-first century, these were very limited. Farmers and ranchers grew crops and raised livestock, but even townspeople with small plots of land had gardens, and raised chickens to feed their families. Some even owned cows to provide milk and other dairy products for their diet. These cows became part of town herds that grazed together on the outskirts of town during the day and then were returned to their owners at night. Even with this combined effort, keeping a cow was one more chore added to an already full workday. Before the town was a decade old, several dairies were established on the land surrounding Colorado Springs. Sinton Dairy was one of them.
Seventeen-year old Melvin Sinton came to Colorado Springs from Ithaca, N.Y. in April of 1880. He was suffering from asthma and hoped the healthy climate would help his condition. At first, he worked at the experimental garden in the center of town (where the Antlers Hotel is now located), but by August of that year his father helped him buy the dairy herd, delivery wagon and route of Jonas Cummings. Melvin and his cousin Louis Bartlett started their dairy business with 12 cows and 44 customers, and the name Sinton Dairy proudly printed on the wagon's tailgate. They purchased land in the Shooks Run area, and Melvin and his father built a barn in what is now the 600 block of East Willamette Street. In September of the following year, Louis sold his interest in the dairy to Melvin's brother George. George became the business manager and Melvin took charge of production.
Shook's Run is a small waterway, named for the Shook brothers who homesteaded land surrounding the brook. It flooded in 1885. This did not ruin the Sinton dairy business, but in 1887 the brothers built a dairy plant at the 400 block of South El Paso Street and a barn near Prospect Lake. The brothers worked hard. They started work early every morning awaking at 2 AM, milking the cows by hand, pouring the milk into 5 gallon milk cans, loading them onto their horse drawn cart (the pony's name was Santa Fe) and then delivering milk to their customers. At that time, milk was delivered early in the morning so the milk would remain cool and not spoil. Milkmen would drive their horse drawn wagons through the streets, ringing a bell to attract their customers. People would bring pails, pitchers or whatever they used to store milk out to the wagon parked in front of their homes. The milkman would then ladle the amount wanted out of the 5-gallon container and move on down the street to the next person waiting. The Sinton brothers added an extra service to their delivery by bringing the milk to the door of their customers. When George and Melvin first started the dairy, their cows produced 14 quarts of milk a day. The price of a quart was 10 cents. After the daily delivery route was completed, Melvin and George went back to the herd and cared for the cows. Then, it was early to bed to rest for the next day.
As the years passed the Sinton dairy business continued to grow. The brothers bought more land to support their increased herd. They also merged with other dairies and eventually bought out their new partners. They bought ranches south of town with property nearly reaching present day Ft. Carson. They bought land in what is now Holland Park. Besides increasing their land holdings and expanding their business, the Sinton brothers brought innovations to the Colorado Springs area. In 1907 they introduced pasteurization here. While pasteurized milk is common today, it was controversial then. The five doctors on the CS Board of Health were split 3 to 2 in favor of selling pasteurized milk in town but the two dissenting doctors blocked the sale. Melvin telegraphed the authorities in Washington, D.C., and they settled the problem.
In 1912, George's son Herbert became president of the company. He had worked for the family business since he was 12 years old, starting as a delivery boy. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, Sinton dairy continued to grow. Acquiring land in the Denver area, in Monte Vista, Alamosa, Salida, Grand Junction and Boulder gained them access to stores in those areas. In 1956, the current plant was built on land between Fillmore and Garden of the Gods, east of I-25. It was at this time that the care of the milk cows was no longer a direct part of the Sinton dairy.
In 1980, the Sinton family sold the business. Today Sinton Dairy competes for the shrinking milk market by offering other dairy products, especially cottage cheese. The plant processes approximately 350,000 gallons of milk a week, and it makes the plastic gallon jugs that hold the milk on site. The dairy is a major distributor of milk products throughout the state of Colorado and into New Mexico. Things have certainly changed since the early days, when George and Melvin ran their small dairy, and delivered milk with Santa Fe pulling the cart, but the name Sinton Dairy is still proudly displayed where it all began in Colorado Springs.
Sources:
Clipping File Local History Pikes Peak Library District
Jeanne Davant, Wellsprings, Gazette Enterprises, Colorado Springs, CO 2001
Reid, J. Juan, Growing Up in Colorado Springs. Century One Press, Colorado
Springs, 1981
Sinton Dairy Website http://www.sintondairyfoods.com
Sommers, Herbert M., Pioneer Colorado Springs, Herbert Sommers, Colorado
Springs, CO 1966
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Written by: Darcy Mazel