I got an email last week from regular reader Ross, who asked about the old Purity Dairy Building at 1501 Howard Ave.
The old building has under gone many name changes over the years, but it was built in 1929 by local architects Shepard & Mason. The building was altered and added on to 1997.
Luckily the main focal point of the building, the main tower was left unaltered.
There is some interesting architectural sculpture above the windows on the lower floor of the tower.
Moo! Quite possibly the only animal architectural sculpture on any building in Windsor.
A look inside the windows of the tower reveals not much happening on the ground floor.
Any Windsorites have any memories of this place?
Thanks Andrew for posting this on the site, this building really peeks my curiosity, unfortunately, many of the original architectural features on the inside of this building are gone, I work in this building, and it’s been completely modernized. It will be great to see what my fellow windsorites can remember! I’d be very excited to see older pictures of the building. It’s yet another fantastic look at our past, and it’s an unfortunate reminder that not everyone is keen on preserving our historic buildings here in Windsor.
Funnt enough, I have never noticed the animal sculpture on the front of the building. I was told that this building was once called Twin Pines, and Silverwoods. Anyone know anything of either of these two names?
Did Shepard & Mason architects also do Kennedy High School?
Is that building vacant or occupied?
I don’t know about those other two names but I remember it was Ault Dairy before it closed.
David – Kennedy was designed by David Cameron. The building is occupied.
John – I too remember it as Ault Daires when it closed as well.
It used to be full of mixed-use businesses in the mid -1990’s until the early 21st century. One of the largest tenants being The LioneHeart Collection (now on Howard near Paints n Partners) which is a home furnishing store, with some great items you can’t find anywhere else. There used to be a hair salon as well and I believe it was housed in the front where the turret is.
I too remember it being Twin Pines & Ault Dairy.
Memories! yup, LOL! I grew up just down the street and I remember they used to park all the Sealtest and Silverwood trailers in the lot next to Gignac Park, we played on those tyhings all the time…I remember running around the back of that place on Highland at night as well and playing on the outdoor rollers conveyor they had that shipped things out to the trucks…..
RE: Sammy…
Was Gignac Park the property where that huge factory is across from the building in question, I don’t remember seeing any parks in the area today?
RE: Me…
I do work in the building now, The upper level is home to RJR Transportaion, and an Architect firm, and the lower level houses the Spa/Salon as mentioned, and a Window Covering Shop, with a really nice variety of coverings, and window dressings. There is also a community living organization in the front section on Shepherd. Many sections of the building are vacant, and on the second floor the original frt elevator still exsists.
Too bad nobody has any pictures from back in it’s hay day…LOL
Again Andrew thanks for posting…
Ross, Gignac park Is there. If I remember correctly it is behind the medical buildings on Tecumseh Rd & howard.
The building you are thinking of is Veltri Stamping. It used to be the Kelsey-Hayes Rim factory. The block that houses the Price Chopper, Burger King…is where the old Chrylser truck plant used to be. I watched them tear that down during french classes when I went to Kennedy Collegiate back in the ’80s.
I need some window convering so I will check them out. Thanks.
RE: Me,
Ahh yes that makes sence now…I do know what park your speaking of, and I vaugly remember that Chrylser plat your speaking of…it sat vacant for years correct?
Yes that is correct. It stood exactly on the sidewalk and at the corner of McDougall & Tecumseh. I am not sure when that plant closed. Maybe another reader can tell us?
About the names: Silverwood was a big dairy chain operating in Ontario and out West, It eventually became Silcorp which expanded its milk business to found the Macs MIlk and Beckers chain stores. Twin Pines was a Detroit dairy operation whose name would be well known in Windsor because of a 1950s children’s TV show featuring a clown, all dressed in white include facemake up and known as “MIlky” . The clown woud perform magic tricks using the incantation “Twin Pines!” which was the sponsor. I don’t know if the Windsor operation had a financial connection to the Detroit one. Some local businesses would adopt Detroit names because of they were familiar to Windsorites because of the Detroit TV ads.
There was a Twin Pines store in Gateway Plaza. What was the relationship there? They sold all sorts of foodstuffs – not just dairy. I used to like that place. Was kinda like M&M; you could walk in and walk out within ten minutes with enough food to prepare a week’s worth of meals.
Ross: well it’s already been answered but yeah the park is mostly used for little league baseball games but has a playground on the North end and the lot now used for the park use to belong to the dairy….. St. Alponsus Cemetery is to the North of the park…..man I remember when Kelsey Hayes was running full too….. and they had a few more buildings South of the one veltri is in but htose are gone now….on Mercer I believe and the another across McDougal that I think is running other operations out of it now….
I remember when there was a BIG deal about putting food services and a grocery store in at the old Chrysler yard to out of fear of pollutants…. in fact when IK went to Kennedy there were a few times the schools drinking water came into question based on the possabilites of what Chrysler left in the ground at the old yard…. guess that cleared up….LOL!
It was built by my grandfather Sir Harry E Gignac and was family owned as “Purity Dairies” until the early 70s. Sir Harry passed away in 1968
hi Andrew, this is a fantasic blog you have here!! i love the history of this city, and i thank you for preserving it’s history and displaying it to the world.
i’m sammy hain’s lil brother….and john’s ex-subordinate LOL! i have the same recolections of the ault plant as sammy but mine are a little different…..i went inside a few months after ault stopped operations, and before the new owners renovated the interior. it was pretty creepy in there to be honestbut very nice in the office areas, very dark…it stunk like a few months of rotting milk tanks that wern’t quite emptied all the way. since i was very young and not exactly safety consious, two freinds and myself found three sets of the roller type conveyors on the second floor, each leading into it’s own tunnel. we grabbed three milk crates, said our goodbye’s to eachother, and rolled off into the darkness. i couldn’t see anyone else during the trip, but i could certainly hear muffled terrified excitment in laughing screams thru the walls, with spinning rollers makin that sound we all know from the beer store, except they sound really different at high speeds in a tunnel lol. the others sounds would get loud or quiet as the tunnels would run apart, then meet again. probly a good 45-60 sec ride thru the plant and various stations. we all ended up getting spit out at the outside loading docks on highland about 5 seconds apart…i suppose depending on the route your rollers went. sorry for the long post…..but i hadn’t thought of those times in years…..just kinda came flooding back LOL!!!
your site rocks man, keep up the good work!
I worked for Sealtest when they bought Purity Dairy/Peerless Ice cream in 1966. Mr Gignac was a real gentleman..Purity was the biggest dairy in the Windsor/ Essex county area. They prettywell had the business locked up. All Milk and ice cream products were produced on site..Silverwoods was never there, they were over on Huron Line, Twin Pines was a small player, they were located on Howard ave near Wyandotte… Beckers Dairy was strickly Toronto area…..
Thanks Don Appleyard for the info on when the company was purchased. I have often wondered about what happened to the company whenever I drive by the building. My father owned a dairy farm in Maidstone Twp and shipped to Purity Dairy from sometime in the 1940’s until 1968 when he retired. I don’t know if this blog is still active but any other facts about the company would be greatly appreciated.
My father, Cam Schwindt started the ice cream route for Purity Dairy. I am not sure of the year, but we left for Californi in Dec of 1946. I can still to this day remember the smell of the horse barns and the leather harness’s. Before starting the Ice Cream route my dad had a horse and wagon milk route and in the winter time it took a team for horses to pull the wagon due to ice etc.
I just purchased a stainless steel “cream can” with Purity Dairies, Windsor Ontario very clearly inscribed on the side. It is in great condition. I bought it for 35.00 from a man on Kijiji who lives on Concession 11, off CR 42 -just east of Lauzon Parkway.
The man indicated he grew up near Elsmere and Shepherd and knew of the dairy quite well. I live on Victoria near Shepherd and also am familiar with the beautiful building that housed the dairy.
What I found of from him that is really interesting is that back in the 40’s Purity had at the site a large upside down ice ream cone for the ice cream sales. This later was moved to the west end on Sandwich, just west of Mill Street to a small dairy bar.variety store called “Georges”. I grew up as a kid at Mill and Peter and fondly remember this unique structure. My dad in addition to driving for the SW &A, was also a part time refrigeration man and took care of George’s refrigeration needs.
Anyone know anymore about this large upside down silver colored ice cream cone?
Wally (Mills) Matkowski on January 30, 2012 at 17:52 HRS.
My family and I moved directly across the street from Purity Dairies in 1954 when I was 4 years old. At that time our milk was delivered
to our home by a horse drawn wagon which Purity Dairies used on routes closer to the dairy. I remember well the milkman coming up
the walk carrying the his mesh metal bottle holder with the bottles clanking all the way up to the porch. If we ran out of dairy products
the dairy was right across Howard Ave where there was a small retail outlet. Every time I walked out my front door Purity Dairies was
the first building to greet my eyes, you couldn’t miss it. Living in Windsor in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s I well remember Sealtest, Bordens
Silverwood, and Twin Pines dairy products as well as the Peerless ice cream outlets. Twin Pines had a jingle which went ” You can
worry free home delivery, Call Twin Pines Texas 41100.” I have good memories living in the 1500 block of Howard Ave back in the
1950’s. I was born and raised in the greatest City in Canada, Windsor Ontario.
Some very interesting information here! I just had to do a google search on Purity Dairies today. We have an older home and after my husband tore down part of one wall on the other side of the kitchen, I just noticed a small piece of rounded cardboard sticking out near the bottom, so I pulled it out. It’s says Recipe 8 Cottage Cheese Sandwiches, and then gives different variations you can try. It gives the Dairy’s information on Howard. We keep finding all these little scraps of the past in this old house.
I remember the upside down icecream cone ,behind the postoffice on sandwich, does anybody have a pic of that to post it would be nice to see,maybe send it to the windsor star ,and the dairy as i remember as a boy was sealtest ,my dad worked there and often i missed school,to go with my dad and help load the truck ,with milk in their creates off them rollers on the dock,and going upstairs to drink fresh chocolot milk produce that day.does any one have info on a man named, Don Gervais ,a sealtest driver that mainly covered the essex town ,and cottom area ,back in the 70’s and and early 8o’s ,please reply.
My father, Mac Fowler, worked for Purity Dairies from sometime in the 30s until he passed in 1958. He started delivering milk with a horse and wagon — in fact he was our delivery man when we lived on Bruce Ave about 1940. During WWII Purity bought a former cheese factory at Sharon, a crossroads in the country outside Lambeth (near London) and converted it to produce powdered milk to ship to Europe. After the war we moved back to Windsor where my father became manager of the ice cream department. We moved into a house owned, I believe, by Sir Harry Gignac at the corner of Gladstone and Shepherd. It was easy walking distance from the dairy, where I worked the summer of 1955, before heading off to my first year at university, steam-cleaning the inside of the wagons and trucks as they returned from their routes each afternoon. It was a great summer job for a kid. Because the first wagon didn’t return until about 1 p.m. I could sleep until noon, whereas my two best friends had to be at their gas station jobs at 8 a.m.! Plus, I worked fewer hours for more money and could have as much chocolate milk as I wanted to keep cool! Purity made the best chocolate milk and ice cream in town. The parents of one of my friends owned a small souvenir store with a lunch counter downtown on Ouellette Ave right near the tunnel exit. Once a week a man came over from Detroit just to have a dish of Purity ice cream at tne counter, then go back.
Wow. I also remember this building and all the people that worked there at one time.I lived on Lillian Ave, right off of Shepard .When I was really little there were so many people that used to work there and sadly like everything else, things got slow ,we no longer had milk delivered to the house, and people were let go. I did sell a whole lot of candy bars or whatever my grade school was selling at that time to the nice people who worked there.It was right across from Petes grocery and , that was next to Wally Mills Matkowski’s house( Yes Wally I remember you also, i had a little crush on you as a kid)It was a great neighbourhood to grow up in.I am glad to see that they left part on the architecture in place. This is a great site.
I remember vividly the upside down ice cream store on Sandwich St. Inside was a small counter to sit,and two pin ball machines. I beleive the small,round man working there at the time,late 50`s, was named {George}if memory serves me and what a nice ,kind man he was. Across the street and slightly west was the {Cameo} resturaunt.
I also remember this building but I also too remember the one that was at corner of Wynadotte and Alymer ave as i always passed by it going too school when I lived further down Alymer which is my stomping grounds even today. But you can’t find old pictures on here of the place nor of the fire at the other bakery across street from Malics that also went up in flames around same time as horseshoe hotel that was when twin pines fire also happened same time period. From 1975 -1977 they were all close together.
My great grandfather, Leo Page was business partners with Sir Harry Gignac at Purity Dairy. I have a photo album with many pictures of the dairy and the production line, the horse delivery cart. Very cool pictures and memory for our family.
I have an old cast Iron Milk Container with Purities Dairies written on it.It is is very good condition and I am willing to sell it to the highest bidder if anyone is interested.
After talking with my grandfather I learned that they owned the dairy until 1929. It was known as Coverdale dairy but, they sold it to purity dairy and moved to the area of techumeh road and pillette road the store they operated is still there with the name Lassaline ontop of it. Not sure if anyone has any further information on this.
I was born in 1954 in Windsor, ON & fondly recall the horse drawn delivery wagons here as well as the junk man (or ‘sheeny man’ as he was known to us) & his horse drawn wagon regularly traveling up & down the alleys behind our houses as well. Recently though I was rudely informed (basically calling me a liar:-( that I couldn’t possibly remember these things as I was not old enough (I’m 60) & these things had ceased long before my time to which I was deeply offended. I didn’t know how to defend myself as no one else seated at the table grew up here in my timeline so could not corroborate. I have always loved horses & was speaking about how as a child growing up on the west side in the 50s & 60s in the 700 block of Indian Road, I thoroughly enjoyed whenever the milk man or bread man (I can’t recall which) would stop at our house with his horse drawn wagon & allowed me to sometimes feed his horse a carrot but I was always allowed to talk to & pet him so long as I stayed on the curb & off the road so the horse couldn’t accidentally step on me. Although very large to a very little girl, these delivery horses were always very gentle:-) I wish I could find DATED Windsor pictures that would PROVE I’m not a liar!
This is Purity Dairies, newly built in 1929 http://heritage.windsorpubliclibrary.com/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/heritage&CISOPTR=66&CISOBOX=1&REC=2
The Windsor Star put these pictures up a few years back from the vault. http://blogs.windsorstar.com/from-the-vault/purity-dairy
I was born in 1958, grew up on Benjiman and remember Purity dairy delivery in quarts with the pong in the top, bread man, the coal delivery from the coal towers yard at Langlois and Hanna. The sheeny man going up and down the alley , the sharpener man who would go down the street ringing his bell telling you to come out and get your sissors and knives sharpened. The steam engine from Essex Terminal Railway, I never seen it run but seen it on the rail siding that used to run from Lincoln road to Langlois. Time has gone by and everything is just a memory now…
My Mom worked in the office at Purity Dairies in the early 1950’s. We are currently interested in the name of the typing/adding machine she used at that time. Please email me with any information .
In appreciation,
Leo Page was my grandparents best man in their wedding. I have a beautiful picture.
@Janine Fortier, I’d love to see that picture. Leo Page was my great grandfather and I’d love any pictures you’d have of him.
Thanks,
Irene Schiller
I once lived behind this building on Highland Road in 1960. I was 5 years old at the time. I remember going into the spired building to buy treats as, at that time, it was a retail store. To the left of the front of the spired building they processed milk. Behind where they processed milk there was a small factory that made popsicles. As a kid, in the summer, I remember hanging at the double doors of the popsicle factory begging for a free popsicle.
My Father was born and raised on Highland Road. I can remember going to my Grandparents and seeing the Dairy across the street and at the end of the street. My Uncle worked at the dairy before moving to London to the dairy there.