The Dairies and the Milkman

The horse-drawn milk wagon is now ancient history, and the home delivery milk business itself has faded away in Belmont.  

More than a century ago, the Milkman would take his horse-drawn milk wagon from the dairy at 1 a.m. to deliver milk to homes for 10 cents a quart, two quarts for 15 cents.  

In Belmont, the horse-drawn wagon started to give way to trucks in the mid-1930s.  When grocers began to sell milk below cost by getting it from big wholesales, the home delivery routes began to take a beating.  

By 1940, there were about 20 companies still delivering milk to Dayton area doorsteps.

The Shoemaker Dairy and  the Breidenour Dairy near the southeast corner of Smithville and Woodbine (the Breidenour house still stands at 2201 Smithville at the corner of Woodbine) were two of these smaller local dairies that faded into history.

John Moler’s dairy farm was 495 acres, located west of the original Shaker Village. His children expanded the operation to Montgomery County in 1926, and Moler’s Dairy on Smithville Rd which was in business til 1973.

Moler’s dairy had the most iconic cow in the Belmont area. Rosie is talked about and remembered fondly. She was purchased by Reiter’s Dairy in 1981 and moved to Akron, by 1991, she was moved again, to the roof of Reiter’s parent company  Dean Foods Distribution plant in Barberton, Ohio.