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by Boyertown Area Expression Staff
What better time than "National Ice Cream Month" to announce The Boyertown Area Expression's newest advertiser, Longacre's Modern Dairy -- home of the best ice cream ever!
Longacre's Modern Dairy, located on Route 100 near Bally, PA, has a rich history rooted in family tradition and a commitment to quality.
The family running the Dairy today, is likely descended from Daniel (1686-1756) and Ulrich (1681-1757) Longenecker who came to Pennsylvania from Switzerland and settled along the Schuylkill River around 1719.
Fast forward to "approximately the early 1920’s and John S. Longacre, father of Daniel E. Longacre, would rise early with the sun, milk his herd of dairy cattle on the farm and begin his daily milk deliveries to neighboring homes in the villages of Barto and Eshbach communities in Berks County.
"Refrigerators did not replace the cold cellars unti the late 1920s, making it essential to have milk delivered two or three times daily. Traveling by horse-drawn wagon, John sold 100-200 quarts of RAW milk daily, dipped directly out of a large 10-gallon metal can placed securely on the back of his wooden wagon.
"Daniel E. Longacre followed in his father's footsteps by establishing one of the largest independent and few-remaining dairies in this area. Along with his wife, Kathryn H Longacre, they decided to build a small processing plant on a parcel of the farmland to facilitate new modernized equipment to pasteurize glass-bottled milk.This new plant facility was built in 1942. Homogenizing milk began later. This small building is now a part of a much larger facility employing in excess of approximately 30-40 people.
"The business has seen immense changes since John's humble beginnings-- some of these changes are in packaging and processing of not only milk, but also homemade ice cream.
"Today the company processes and packages predominantly ice cream, ice cream mixes, and fresh milk from local farmers that is sold in the Longacre's Dairy Store/Bar.
"The business today is still a Longacre family enterprise. Overseeing operations are 3rd and 4th generation family members: Daniel. T. Longacre (President), Daniel (Danny) T. Longacre (Vice President) and JoAnn Longacre (General Manager)."
We appreciate Longacre's willingness to help support news, features, the arts, writing, and the people and events in the 100 square miles of the Boyertown Area School District. We encourage our readers to enjoy this local treasure!
[Editor's note -- photos and majority of the history of Longacre's reprinted from their business website.]
You can learn more about the history of the family and the growth of the Dairy by visiting the links below:
https://mhep.org/our-immigrant...
https://evanseats.blogspot.com...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
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