Elgin’s dairy heritage rolls into Gail Borden Library for upcoming exhibit

The Gail Borden Library in Elgin got a special delivery befitting its namesake Wednesday when a century-old milk wagon arrived for its upcoming “Celebrating 250 Years of Elgin” exhibit.

The exhibit, which opens in February, is the first of many upcoming “Elgin 250” festivities around the city commemorating America’s semiquincentennial.

While Elgin wasn’t founded until 1835 by the Gifford Brothers, the library’s exhibit will follow a timeline from 1776 to the current day, with highlights that include Elgin being the “Butter Capital of the World” in the late 1800s.

A butter carving display will celebrate “Elgin cut” butter, the shape we still find in stores today.

The exhibit will feature informative story boards as well as several lent items from both the Elgin History Museum and the Elgin Public Museum, including a replica Roach — a traditional headdress worn by Native American men, including the Potawatomi people who originally inhabited this region.

The wagon, which is roughly 115 years old and on display in the city for the first time, is one of the only known remaining wagons from the Elgin Sanitary Milk Company.

The company was founded in 1911 by Oscar Ludwig on North Chapel Street. Later renamed Ludwig Milk Company, the Ludwig dairy was one of the largest producers of cottage cheese in Northern Illinois in the 1950s. It was sold to Dominick’s in 1973 and closed in 1983.

“As the library is named after Gail Borden, a superstar of the dairy industry as the patent holder of condensing milk, we love hosting the milk wagon,” Denise Raleigh, the library’s Director of Development, said in a press release.

Elgin 250 is coordinated by the Elgin Area Chamber’s Enhancing Elgin committee and partners that include the city of Elgin, Elgin Area School District U-46, Elgin Community College, Side Street Studio Arts, Downtown Neighborhood Association, Explore Elgin Area and more.

Other upcoming Elgin 250 festivities include a youth art contest, a sustainability sculpture and time capsules. A full schedule of events, contest details, audio tours and more are available at elginil250.com.