Kent Place’s Rich History: Creameries and Cold Storage

Post 1917: The Lindsay Creamery located on the corner of Kent St and Victoria Ave (Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives)

The Lindsay Creamery & Cold Storage located on the corner of Kent Street West and Victoria Avenue (taken after 1917, Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives)

Kent Place: A Journey Through Time

Kent Place Business and Professional Centre, once a vital hub of Lindsay’s dairy industry, has a rich history deeply intertwined with the community’s growth. In 1916, plans were created to build on 189 Kent Street West, where Kent Place is currently situated. The building was initially built as a cold storage and creamery for Lindsay Creamery and Cold Storage. In August 1949, the company was sold to Silverwood’s Dairy. In 1979, Linborough Property Corp. built the current Kent Place building, which is now a business and professional centre.

1974: Silverwood’s Dairy, 189 Kent Street West, Lindsay (Kawartha Lakes Library Digital Archive)


The Victoria Creamery & Cold Storage

Flavelles Limited was owned by William and J.D. Flavelle, two prominent figures who helped develop the Town of Lindsay and Victory County in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Read more about the Flavelle legacy from the Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives website here

1916: Illustration of the newly renovated Victoria Cold Storage (Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives)

William Flavelle was the former director of the Victoria Creamery located on Russell Street. In 1912, his company, Flavelles Limited, purchased the Victoria Creamery and moved its operations from Russell Street to the Flavelle’s cold storage and egg house on King Street. Extensive renovations followed, including the addition of new cold storage rooms, equipment, and an up-to-date creamery that could produce over 100,000 pounds of butter yearly.

In 1916, there was a fire at the Victoria Creamery and Cold Storage, leaving the building in ruins. A new creamery was built on the corner of Kent Street and Victoria Avenue, where Kent Place is located today. The new building was made fireproof, using bricks and adding firewalls. The offices were located on Kent Street West and the factory was to the south, now the Kent Place parking lot, with a barn where delivery horses were kept. Before the Creamery, the location’s buildings were used to store military uniforms.

1916: Early architectural drawing of the newly proposed cold storage and creamery on Kent St and Victoria Ave (Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives)

The Flavelles Limited’s Victoria Creamery and Cold Storage became Canada’s largest and most modern cold storage facility and one of the largest creameries in Ontario. During the factory’s operation, the milk was said to be smelled for blocks around the factory. The Victoria Creamery and Cold Storage changed its name to the Lindsay Creamery and Cold Storage.

In 1928, Lindsay Creamery added a milk department, purchasing milk routes around Lindsay with the primary goal of supplying milk to Lindsay residents and the surrounding cottage areas.

In August 1943, the Lindsay Creamery was sold to Silverwood’s Dairy due to William Flavelle’s declining health. Flavelle passed away a few months later. 


Albert Edward Silverwood

Albert Edward (A.E.) Silverwood (1876-1961) grew up in Oakwood and attended Oakwood Public School and Lindsay Collegiate Institute. He worked for Flavelles Limited for four years. 

Silverwood’s Dairy Milkman (n.d. Ivey Family London Room, London Public Library)

In 1903, Silverwood opened a branch for Flavelle Limited in London, Ontario, which 1909 became known as Flavelle-Silverwood Ltd. In 1912, Silverwood founded Silverwood’s Dairy, located on the north side of Bathurst Street in London. The Flavelles retained half equity in Silverwood’s company. Silverwood gathered other investors to buy out the Flavelles and facilitated an expansion of Silverwood’s Dairy throughout western Ontario. Silverwood bought out many smaller dairies to expand its operations across Canada, including small dairies from Lindsay and Peterborough. Silverwood expanded his company across Canada, owning subsidiaries in Western Canada. By 1928, Silverwood’s Dairy made more than $4M in sales. In August 1943, Silverwood purchased the Lindsay Creamery and Cold Storage from Flavelles Limited.

Silverwood’s Milk Container (Maryboro Lodge: The Fenelon Museum)


Smaller Dairies: Hutton’s Dairy

Silverwood’s closed many small local dairies in the Province. By 1960, Silverwood’s Dairy in Lindsay produced over 7,000 quarts of milk daily, while the last standing small dairy farm, McMullen’s, produced about 600 quarts daily.

Before being sold to Silverwood’s Dairy, Hutton’s Dairy was opened in 1923 by Thomas Hutton. His farm was located on the east limits of Lindsay and the Township of Ops. Hutton’s Dairy faced significant market competition. Hutton’s son Peter ran the cattle and farming part of the operation, and his son Joseph ran the dairy trade with him. The farm was eventually sold to Joseph, who ran the farm for a few years before selling it to Silverwood’s Dairy. Joseph worked for Silverwood’s Dairy briefly as a general buyer of milk and cream for the firm. Read more about Hutton’s Dairy and the Hutton Family on the Kawartha Lakes Museum & Archives website here.

ca. 1945: Joseph Hutton of Hutton’s Dairy (Maryboro Lodge: The Fenelon Museum)


Milk Deliveries

Engineer Bernard Finney of M.B. Finney Limited recalls horses pulling the milk cart down the street following the milkman. Both the milkman and horse knew the route. Milk deliveries were made early in the morning, and most houses had milk boxes. In the winter, Silverwood’s was contracted to clear the snow from the municipal sidewalks with large plows pulled by the horses. The stables were located in the parking lot south of Kent Place along Sylvester Lane. This laneway exists today and runs between Sussex Street and Cambridge Street.

Milkman Bob Dainard and Sandy of Silverwood’s Dairy in Lindsay (Maryboro Lodge: The Fenelon Museum) n.d.

Memorable milkmen include Bob Dainard, Norm Snook, and Ellwood “Sixty” Coombs, a former semi-pro hockey player who is said to have skated at 60 miles/hour.

1961: Photographed at Victoria Park, looking south towards Kent Street West. The building at the top right is the old Silverwood’s Dairy, now Kent Place. (Photographed by Glenn Burke, retrieved from Kawartha Lakes Public Library Digital Archives)

The history of Kent Place is a testament to Lindsay’s industrial past and its growth over time. From its roots as a creamery and cold storage facility to its present-day role in the community, Kent Place embodies the spirit of innovation and growth that has shaped the City of Kawartha Lakes. The legacy of Flavelles Limited and Silverwood’s Dairy, along with the contributions of smaller dairies like Hutton’s, demonstrates the integral role these facilities played in the region’s development.


Silverwood’s Dairy Photo Gallery