A Brief Overview of the Dairy Industry in Abbotsford

By Lorisa Huesken, Curator

In 2023, we received a donation of photographs by a generous donor. In mid-August, we were finally able to ask a couple of our beloved volunteers for help identifying the locations in many of the photographs. One volunteer informed us that they believed that the photograph to the left was of the Pacific Milk plant, previously on Riverside Road, during the flood of 1948. However, while trying to verify the information provided to us, we realized that the photographs we received were actually of a different place and event.

The first problem was there are photographs of the Pacific Milk plant in The Reach’s archives that do not match the building in the photo. Additionally, the water tower at the Pacific dairy plant was not built until the end of the 1950s, and wouldn’t have been included in a photograph from 1948. Following this discovery I reached out to the generous Walter Goerzen of the Fraser Valley Milk Producers’ Association, inquiring whether he could provide some insight.

Walt stated that he believed that the photograph could be of one of the Buckerfield’s Dehydration Plants. After some on the ground research driving around the area he confirmed that he could confidently state that photograph was taken on Marion Road in Sumas Prairie. He informed us that the Sumas Prairie did not flood in 1948 from the Fraser River; however, after a massive snowstorm in 1951, there was some major flooding on Sumas Prairie when the snow started melting.

Although the acquisition of these fantastic photographs has made my August, the acquisition of the Clymer paintings, and the subsequent donation of their prints, has made my year.  In March we received a donation from the Fraser Valley Milk Producers’ Association (FVMPA) of three Clymer paintings. The three paintings are titled, “Coming Home”, “Feeding Time”, and “Show Time” respectively, are oil on canvas, and the framed dimensions are about 90 inches (7.5 feet) high by 81 inches (6.75 feet) wide.

The paintings are significant because they were commissioned by the FVMPA in the mid-1920s for John Ford Clymer, who was a student at the Vancouver School of Art at the time. He was commissioned to paint a group of eight large murals depicting various facets of the dairy industry. The murals were designed to be public advertisements for the Fraser Valley dairy industry, set in the large arches above the windows of the old BC Electric Station at Hastings and Carroll Streets in Vancouver.

I am very excited to inform you that included with the donation of the paintings, are sets of limited-edition fine art prints of each painting, in a protected navy blue portfolio embossed in gold foil with the FVMPA logo. The sets are available for purchase on our website with in-office pickup and can be purchased in person at our office. The money raised through the purchase of these fine art prints will go towards conserving our collection.

It is discovering and learning aspects of our community’s history as evidenced by the photograph of the Buckerfield’s Dehydration Plant and the John Ford Clymer paintings, that makes me excited to come into work and continuing to discover and discuss the varying aspects of Abbotsford’s history.

A special thank you to Walter Goerzen for being an invaluable source of information and history and to Heritage Abbotsford’s volunteers who are integral to preserving Abbotsford’s heritage.