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abandoned abandonedok accountings art art factory attention August basement brother derek Building center of attention concrete columns concrete floor conveyor cottage cheese cream Creamery dairy dairy cows Derek Pever design explore factory Fairmont fairmont co father floor fruits and vegetables gallon gallon milk gallon tank haunted ice industrial zone Joe Warner Larrance Avenue Lawton Lawtonians milk milk storage multistory nggallery okc oklahoma old timers paranormal pever photography red brick Red Ridge skirvin smokestack STEVE METZER storage tank story concrete tank time Travis Warner urban urbex Warner
It is still one of the most captivating buildings in Lawton, a multistory fortress of red brick occupying a solid city block, its signature narrow smokestack rising above almost everything else in the downtown industrial zone.
But if it’s still imposing enough to demand attention, in its heyday the Fairmont Creamery at 411 SE Larrance Avenue was not only recognizable, it was a center of attention, an absolute beehive that employed well over 100 people who turned the milk of thousands of dairy cows into ice cream, cottage cheese and other products consumed by generations of Lawtonians.
The creamery that stands today was built in 1929, with expansions added in 1979 and 1985, but the Fairmont Co. actually came to the still budding town of Lawton in 1905, according to Travis Warner, who took over care of the creamery four years ago with his brother, Derek Pever.
“Talking to old-timers and to my father, in 1905 it was originally right by the railroad tracks and people would come in and set up next to it to sell fruits and vegetables from carts, and it was like a market here every weekend,” Warner said.
Though most of the equipment that made the creamery what it was has now been removed, standing inside the 70,000-square-foot building, one can still get a sense of its rich history.
“At that time, it was actually the first state-of-the-art factory in Lawton,” Warner said, pointing out stout concrete columns rising from the building’s foundation to support the tremendous weight of the second-story concrete floor, which is 28 inches thick in places.
Warner has never seen accountings of how much milk flowed through the creamery or of how much ice cream or other dairy products shipped out on a day-to-day basis. He points out though, where a 10,000-gallon tank sat on the first floor for storing milk. On the second floor were another 10,000-gallon milk storage tank and two more that held 5,000 gallons each.
Nearby, the original freight elevator still stands in its shaft.
“When we were doing the (interior) demolition we got it working and used it,” he said.
In an area on the second floor where creamery employees once gathered before work, the doors of old wooden lockers stand open, as if left that way for a final inspection.
Down below, in the basement, Warner points to a dark space beneath some stairs where the building’s original blueprints were found.
“My dad was really excited about finding them,” he said.
There were offices in the basement, and a massive boiler that produced steam used by the factory.
On this recent day in mid-August, it was nothing if not hot inside the cavernous building, but when the Fairmont was a busy business concern, it was kept very cold inside.
“There were just miles and miles and miles of piping that went through here to keep it chilled.” Warner said. He points out a hole in an interior wall where a conveyor once swept ice cream being made through a “chill room” kept beyond chilly and, indeed, well below freezing.
“There was a conveyor that went through and by the time the ice cream passed through in 48 feet it was frozen solid,” he said.
The Fairmont Co. pulled out of Lawton in the 1970s. The creamery was then operated for a time by Farm Fresh, but has stood vacant for the past several years. Warner’s father, Joe Warner, bought it in 1995 and it remains under ownership of Fairmont Rentals, which he established.
Old Fairmont building reminds Lawtonians of creamy past
Lawton Constitution, The (OK) – Sunday, August 31, 2008
Author: STEVE METZER ; STAFF WRITER
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Awesome! I love places like this!
That’s awesome background information! There is a part of that looked burnt, did you find anything about that?
usually on these old abandoned buildings, records are scarce once it is vacant, only because there is no one to report the news… so I didn’t find anything about a fire, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen…
Just stumbled on this site and thankful I did! My Father was Chief Plant Engineer for 30 years at this plant. It is heartbreaking to see the building in it’s present condition. So much history. Thanks for stroll thru your site!
Thanks for swinging by and commenting SKay! It’s great to hear stories from family or workers of any of our places. It really gives meaning to the place. The place is forgotten by so many people, but you and your father remember the creamery! Its great to put real history with these, told by the people that lived it! Thanks for the comment!
what are the plans for the creamery?
will it be demolished, renovated, left as-is?
How do we go about getting permission to go visit this place? I want to go stroll around and take some photos but I want to make sure that I get some approval to visit the creamery.
The day I went, there were already a couple of people there taking pictures, but they soon left after my arrival. As for permission, I’m sure its fine t just look around the property, but if you want to get inside, not sure who’d you have to talk to.
I absolutely love places like this!! I grew up in Lawton, and love learning about it’s history. I didn’t appreciate it when I was younger, but I sure do now that I have a family. I was down in that part of town not too long ago and saw the building there; I was really intrigued about finding out more. Your site is awesome; thank you so much for helping us remember the forgotten.
On the Highway going to Faxon is an abandoned town site for Holiday, Ok. The last time we went by there it still had part of one building. My mother was born there in s dugout in 1914. Faxon is almost abandoned.
I went to the Fairmont Creamery for a field trip in 1949. Which was also about the same time creameries switched from glass bottles to wax cartons. I still remember the smell and the guys wading around in hip booths slushing through yucky grey water. I didn’t drink another glass of milk for 20 years.
wonder how i can find an old fairmont train car. sure would look great setting out front
gayle
I have a milk can from a Fairmont Creamery. It has the message on it” When empty to return to a Mrs. T C Wiggins / Shelocta, Pa. – Pittsburgh, Pa Is this the same company? I could send a photo. It has the Company initials formed into a kind of brand, located at the top of the can. I think the tag is brass. The can itself is in excellent condition.
Outstanding. My Dad worked at Fairmont, he started inside, and ended up driving a route truck. He worked there from about 1960 to 1973. Fairmont was the main topic of conversation everynight at the dinner table. I still have one of the old steel milk crates they used. I would love to tour thru the place.