Whites Creek was known for it’s truck farms and dairies. William Herman Thompson became part of that tradition when he built a dairy barn on Lickton Pike for $1000. It took 10 years for him to repay this loan. At that time, 30 cows a day would provide a living for his family.
In 1941, Dr. Marshall Link loaned the Thompson family $18,000 to purchase a 200 acre farm with the house and barn on Whites Creek Pike. At this time it took 75-100 cows to make a living. The milking was done at midnight and noon each day. After the cows were milked the milk was stored in a spring house to cool and then delivered downtown.
The milk was sold to St. Thomas Hospital, local schools including Alex Green Elementary, the County Asylum in Bordeaux, and was delivered by truck to area homes. It was packaged for sale from five gallon buckets for wholesale use to one pint containers that were used in local schools.
Country Maid documented the rural aspect of Whites Creek with aerial photos, shown below.
Aerial view of Whites Creek at intersection of Buena Vista Pike and Whites Creek Pike, mid 1950’s
Samples of Country Maid newspaper ads are shown below.
