The Dairy
The brick building has two-foot thick walls, double glazed windows, double doors, and marble floors. The original cedar shake roof was replaced in 1993. To cool the building, ice (harvested from Pleasant Lake) was brought into the Dairy from an adjacent icehouse and placed in a five-foot wide ceiling high closet between the two north rooms. Cold air entered the room through low vents in the walls and warm air was exhausted through vents high on the walls and in the ceiling via a duct system connected to the two cupolas on the roof.
The first DeLaval separator in the state of Minnesota was personally ordered by James J. Hill and installed in the Dairy building in 1884. This new, innovative machine, which separated cream from milk by centrifugal force, was a more efficient time-saving method than waiting for hours for the cream to rise to the top of setting pans. Barrel churns, an improvement over the upright dasher churns with a paddle agitated by hand, were included in the dairy operation. All of the equipment was powered by a steam engine to drive the overhead shafts and pulleys, which are still present, linked to the separator and churns by leather belts. Hill's dairy represents a leap from primitive butter making processes to mechanical time-saving production, a forerunner of commercial butter making.
The first DeLaval separator in the state of Minnesota was personally ordered by James J. Hill and installed in the Dairy building in 1884. This new, innovative machine, which separated cream from milk by centrifugal force, was a more efficient time-saving method than waiting for hours for the cream to rise to the top of setting pans. Barrel churns, an improvement over the upright dasher churns with a paddle agitated by hand, were included in the dairy operation. All of the equipment was powered by a steam engine to drive the overhead shafts and pulleys, which are still present, linked to the separator and churns by leather belts. Hill's dairy represents a leap from primitive butter making processes to mechanical time-saving production, a forerunner of commercial butter making.
The Granary
A root cellar within the rock foundation of the granary was used to store the rutabagas, turnips and other root crops raised on the farm. Hill claimed feeding root crops to cattle was more nutritious and increased their market weight. Grain was stored on the main floor in large bins on both sides of a center drive-through aisle. The upper level with a six by twelve foot open access in the floor and heavy lifting equipment was used for storage including wagons and sleighs. An eight foot wide screened-off pigeon loft runs across the width of the building which the pigeons accessed through six openings above the south door of the granary.
Blacksmith-Machine Shop
A fully operational blacksmith shop has been restored in the north half of this building. The only evidence of use of the machine shop in the south half is a ceiling mounted shaft and pulley. A letter found in Hill's papers notes this was the location of an engine house that sent steam through an underground shaft to the working horse barn to the south. The shaft is located six feet down in a three by four foot dirt filled area in the cement floor.