Sheffield Farms Milk Plant, 1075 Webster Avenue (southwest corner of 166th Street), Bronx, Bronx County, NY

Significance: The Sheffield Farms Milk Plant, built in 1914, was one of only two Class I gravity milk plants in the country. As a Class I gravity milk plant, it was one of the most expensive and elaborate milk plants built with one of the largest processing capacities (if not the largest). It is the largest remaining building by New York City architect Frank A. Rooke who pioneered the design of large scale milk plants for the Sheffield Farms Company. The Sheffield Farms-Slawson-Decker Company was at the forefront of the dairy business: they built the first large scale pasteurization plant in 1907, and installed the first continuous holding system of pasteurization there in the country. They pioneered tuberculin testing for dairy herds, the production of certified milk, and the application of milk by-products to other industries, revolutionized the dairy industry by being the first company to use stainless steel dairy equipment in 1925, and introduced the first paper-packaged milk container in the world in 1930. For 60 years they remained one of the most successful corporations in the country.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N498
Survey number: HAER NY-267