Bell Buckle butter. Now that’s not a common phrase heard these days. You might associate Bell Buckle with many things, but butter probably isn’t at the top of that list. Long before Bell Buckle was known for its Cafe or Bluebird Ice Cream Parlor, it was prominent for not only its cows and mules, but its dairy products.
A large creamery was established in Bell Buckle in 1885 by a stock company. It was the perfect business for a thriving farming community. The creamery was supplied milk from numerous herds of cows in the area. Goodspeed History recalled the creamery was “fitted up with the latest improved machinery and has a capacity of handling 6,000 pounds of milk per day.”
In 1886, the creamery was doing so well that a Dr. W. F. Clary built twelve homes nearby the creamery to rent. Though the town had a shipping depot, the townspeople were demanding a passenger depot around this time. The creamery was producing 10,000 pounds of milk and shipping 100 pounds of butter each day.
Bell Buckle was a major shipping point for livestock between Nashville and Chattanooga on the railline, so it made perfect sense when I found advertisements for Bell Buckle butter over in Chattanooga.
I couldn’t find much mention of the creamery around the early 1900s, but in 1927, an article says Carnation bought the Bell Buckle Creamery and chose it as an outside branch to Murfreesboro.
There you have the story about how Bell Buckle was once known for its butter and milk products. I’d love to pay $.30 for a pound of butter today. How about you?
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