The Cream of Hampton

The ingenious design of this building enabled the Ridgelys to produce fine dairy products here for 150 years. Built into the ground to maintain coolness, the structure is also shaded by low-hanging eaves. Inside, a natural refrigeration system used cool water from a nearby spring that bubbled to the ground and ran through a tap into a trough surrounding the dairy floor. Workers set urns of milk and tubs of butter into the cold water to keep them from spoiling. In the early years, fresh milk, cream, and butter were luxuries mainly supplied for the master's table. Hampton's dairy products were sold commercially and helped support the estate. The Ridgelys' famous Alderney and Jersey cows were kept in a large stone barn that once stood beyond the Long Barn. Fences circled the area to keep the animals from straying. In the 19th century, women hauled heavy milk pails on yokes and churned cream into butter. In the 20th century, mainly men were hired to run the dairy.

Hampton, Maryland · United States