Ennis Dairy 1952

This artifact is a milk bottle cap.

Ennis Dairy was owned by William Robert Ennis, a native of Missouri. His obituary (Madera Tribune 4/19/54) describes him as a well-known dairyman and long-time resident of Madera County. He settled in the area around 1925. The US census for 1930 shows Ennis and his family living on their own farm in Storey (Madera Station), located 2.5 miles east-northeast of Madera along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. He operated several ranches in the county and started Madera Quality Dairy, located at 215 E 4th Street at D, and later Ennis Dairy. Ennis Dairy is listed in Polk’s Merced-Madera Directory 1952-1953 *. At the time of his death on April 18, 1954, he owned the Millview Service Station and Grocery Store, located at 1402 E. Yosemite Avenue. Ennis was an active member of the Madera Dairy Herd Improvement Association and Madera County Farm Bureau. He is buried in the Arbor Vitae Cemetery, Madera.

The sale of raw milk in California has become a hotly debated issue with the introduction of new restrictive legislation. You can read the text of bill AB 1735.

In 2006, Madera County boasted 59 dairies, which produced over 169 million dollars worth of milk.

* Page 557: Ennis Dairy, River route, Box 7