Ramsey County History – Spring 1984: “Horse-and-Wagon Dairyman: Harry Schroeder’s Dairy”

Horse-and-Wagon Dairyman: Harry Schroeder’s Dairy
Author: Cathy Dalglish

Henry Schroeder came to St. Paul as a penniless man in 1875, and, a century later, the business he created had annual sales of $20 million. Along with his brother Herman, they established routes, selling their milk and surplus product bought from others. The business prospered and expanded, added many buildings, modernized, and employed many workers, many of them German-speaking immigrants. A fire destroyed everything in 1921, but Schroeder started over. New buildings were up and operating the next year. In 1927, a pasteurization plant was installed, and they called their product “Safe for Baby Milk.” Near the end of the Depression, the company was down to two employees. Henry Schroeder died in 1943. His twin grandsons took over management of the dairy, and they turned it into a large, industrial business, buying milk from large farms and co-ops, bottling it, and supplying it to grocery stores. As of 1984, Schroeder’s Dairy was still a family-run company.
PDF of Dalglish article