Johnny Ola, a reader who has before left several comments and observations about Millside Farms, has given those of us interested in Millside Farms a wonderful gift by providing the link below to “Millside Farms Remembered” by Karen Ruza, a 7-page PDF with text and photos.
http://www.delranhistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Millside-Farms-Remembered-1.pdf
Old posts and comments often get buried back within this website so I highlight this recent one along with a couple of dozen others here so they are easier to find.
See also, these two clippings from our online archive of The New Era:
short history of Millside Farms from 1939 and a 1934 newspaper ad.
Please know that we would like to post more accounts of things that aren’t there anymore – local history topics such as Millside Farms, Riverside’s Watchcase Bldg., Cinnaminson Bank, Cinnaminson’s Children’s Home, among others, plus any of Riverton’s many clubs and civic and religious institutions, even topics about Philadelphia and the Jersey Shore.
Speaking of milk bottles… here are a few from my personal collection.
See more about Cole Dairy in the November 2010 issue of the Gaslight News. Follow links below to download a video interview in three parts, about 30 minutes total, with Franny Cole.
Mr. Francis Cole Remembers Cole Dairy Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
We invite your comments and encourage you to add what you know of the history of any of these local milk suppliers. -JMc
added 9/14/2019: Well, that didn’t take long! A few folks checked in with their recollections of Millside Farms.
Matt Mlynarczyk writes:
Hello John,
Saw the Millside Farms story on the HSR website and thought I’d forward you a few pics to post from my collection.
Ok… now I’m just jealous. Those are some choice collectibles. -JMc
Don Ulmer, another frequent flyer here, contributes this:
Early thirties we concluded a song sang in grade school; “My Garden State. We’ll sing thy praises evermore. I want to live and die in dear old Jersey on the blue Atlantic shore.” Your superb collage validates these lyrics.
Three readers commented on Facebook:
Marilyn Hahle writes: We (went) there for class trips. Also, when our family got together we would go there for ice cream and order a “Lost Weekend” which was a huge sundae which we all shared.
Michael Gilbert wants to know: …where was it located? (see below*)
Deb Hammond reminds us: September 28 is Delran History Day. Stop by 900 Chester Avenue between 11-4 browse our collection. From 12-2pm will have appraisals. Enter your name for chance to win Ancestry DNA kit.
*Regarding the location – Delran Historical Society shows a map with hiistorical sites here. I get that the highway shown in the lower right of the postcard was Route 25, now Route 130, but I can’t get my bearings on the placement of the farm. Was it where Delran’s Millside Shopping Center is now or was it on the other side of the highway? And why do all of the product containers credit a Riverside location instead of Delran, as Ms. Ruzo cites in her article?
Inquiring minds want to know.
added 9/15/2019:
When Evie Berlin Moorhouse mentioned on Facebook that she has the Millside Farm sign found after the fire I replied and asked for a photo. She obliged with the photo at right.
Evie writes: The sign is about 3×5 feet made of pressed board. As a toddler I lived around the block from the farm in Delran. We would walk to see the cows often.
Later we moved to Cinnaminson. Went to Millside for birthdays and class trips. Best ice cream sundaes ever!
After the fire I lived in Millside Manor Apts. for a while. So many changes to that memorable property. Great local history.
Added 1/13/21:
Fred Pfeffer clears up the Rverside/Delran location:
Millside Farms was on the opposite side of the highway of Millside shopping center. The shopping center got its name from the farm. The shopping center used to be a pasture for the cows. And the reason the products had a Riverside address is because there was no Delran Post Office back then. The Bridgeboro section of Delran had a post office and if you lived in that area your mail was delivered to Bridgeboro N.J. The rest of Delran went through the Riverside post office.
Added 7/5/2021: A recent Facebook post made by Rick Grenda, Admin for the About South Jersey group, and shared to our Facebook page, elicited a number of comments that we’d like to make part of this record.
Kathleen McDermott Anderson
My Mom worked at Millside Dairy Bar. Lots of wonderful memories!
Kate Hickey
My mom worked at the Millside Farms when she was a teen!!!
Kathy Richardson Barker
I loved going there!
Marilyn Hahle
Millside Farms was one of my favorite class trips when I attended Riverton Public School. The Dairy Bar ice cream was delicious. When our cousins would visit we would always go there. They had a special sundae called a Lost Weekend. Even with 11 of us it was a delicious but huge amount of ice cream with all of the toppings.
Jean Miersch
Marilyn Hahle – I went there too. I have not thought about that in many years. I don’t remember this, but my dad once told me that at one time people had to wait sometimes for the dairy cows to cross Rt. 130 there.
Alice Doerr Groome
Jean Miersch – twice a day!
Sandra Cucugliello
The best place to go on date night!! Do I remember right that the ice cream was not in “scoops”?
Jerry Wakeham
Sandra Cucugliello yup they were in cubes. Loved them
Alice Doerr Groome
They used to stop traffic twice a day on Route 130 to get the cows to pasture and back again.
Chuck C Cattell
Alice Doerr Groome , my father told this story to me many times.
Alice Doerr Groome
Chuck C Cattell – I don’t know when they stopped doing this, but I know it happened in the 50s and maybe the early 60s.
Margaret Roedig-Wark
My father worked there as a delivery man door to door. Was able to put three girls through catholic school in the 50’s and early 60’s.
Christine Roedig Gentile
Margaret Roedig-Wark – do you have any pictures of Pop Pop in uniform?
Added 9/24/2020: We were very gratified to hear this comment left by a descendant of the founders of Millside Farms.
As the grandson and great-grandson of the founders of Millside Farms, it is wonderful to see these cherished artifacts from the farm and dairy bar as well as to read about fond memories of time spent there. While Millside Farms was gone before I was born, it was a source of great pride for my grandparents and my mom. They would be overjoyed knowing how much it still means to those who remember it. Thank you. Best, Cory Laslocky
Added 12/21/2022: I love it when a random google search query lands a person here, and they find something that sparks a memory. Thank you to Don Workman for this comment. Say “hi” to Don.
wow we use to live at the farm on the dirt lane that led out to chester ave,dad & my uncle worked for the farm ,was a wonderful time .i guess 1958 -59,old woody windsor lived on the corner ,across the street were the- levengoods -hunsickers -workmans -freemans-& a black family- we all played together, thay had a lot of turkeys back then would sled down the big hill in winter time & swim in the stream& ponds , we even met sally star there a few times
Ok, now we’d really like to see a photo of Pop-Pop in a Millside Farms uniform. Or anybody who has a family photo related to Millside.
Thank you to all who contributed to this post. Come back anytime. -JMc
Early thirties we concluded a song sang in grade school; “My Garden State. We’ll sing thy praises evermore. I want to live and die in dear old Jersey on the blue Atlantic shore.” Your superb collage validates these lyrics.