“People need to understand the significance of these pieces”

DIXON, CA (MPG) - Finding a giant wood cow may not be exciting to some but to Greg and Jill Orr, owners of Dawson’s Bar and Grill, it was a discovered Milk Farm treasure and one they would pass onto the Dixon Historical Society.

 The Milk Farm started in 1928 during World War II just outside of Dixon along the Highway by Karl A. Hess, according to Wikipedia.  

 It quickly became a very popular restaurant with 10-cent pony rides for children and an all-you-can-drink milk contest. It was eventually featured in a 1940 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, effectively putting Dixon on the map and giving it the nickname “Dairy Town” because at the time, Dixon was at the very heartland of the California dairy industry.

 Decades later, it closed in 1986 after a storm ripped a whole in the roof. Ultimately, the vacant building decayed with repeated vandalizing. Although Dixonites were able to keep the towering sign from being destroyed, it still stands today complete with the happy cow jumping over the moon along I-80 on Milk Farm Road.

 This past week, Karen Johnson, a friend of Jill Orr, spotted the adorable cow and another Milk Farm sign being offered by Steve Ropp, owner of the Architectural Salvage Yard in Sacramento where his business is to repurpose, salvage, and restore. Johnson has done a lot of the same to decorate her yard so is familiar with the site. She immediately alerted her Dixon “peeps” and the Orrs made the deal.

 “Originally I freaked out. My first reaction, was ‘why isn’t that at the fairgrounds?’ Then, it was okay, calm down,” said Johnson who lives in Willows, California but grew up in Dixon and her father still resides here. 

 “I’ve been following Steve before he had the salvage yard,” she explained. “He knows what he’s doing. I texted Steve and said, ‘I don’t care what it cost, we have to get that cow back to Dixon!’ I knew Jill would flip her lid so I tagged Jill and my dad and several others. I don’t think I even finished tagging Jill when she called and then it just turned out.”

 Both signs were purchased sight unseen and donated by the Orrs.

“People need to understand the significance of these pieces,” Johnson said. “Anybody under the age of 40 would not have even known what that was. We have a responsibility to save as much as we can.” 

Ropp brought the large 5x6-foot brown cow bearing a cherubic look and a smaller Milk Farm parking sign to the Dixon History Museum this past week and announced on social media that the Milk Farm signs made their way back to Dixon and will now be on display at the new museum location, 125 West A Street.

“They have a cool display case with other Milk Farm artifacts as well. I had a great time talking with Mr. Bill Schroeder, museum docent and local history expert, about this and that. Make sure to visit!” said Ropp.

“It’s a trip down memory lane for me because there were very few landmarks on 80 between Sacramento and the Bay Area back in the day, pretty much [it] was milk farm, the Budweiser factory, the PGE powerplant and Nut Tree. This was long before all the tract homes and outlet stores,” he added.

“I felt excited because we always wanted the original sign from the Milk Farm to put in the museum and I always had my eyes set on the cow jumping over the moon,” said Museum President Bill Schroeder, as he ran his hand over the edges of peeling paint on the brown cow.

Historical Society Board Directors are researching a way to seal the sign to protect it and discussing where they will display it—indoors or outdoors. The large cow is made out of tin and plywood with 1-inch angle irons on the backside which would keep it off the wall itself so it can breathe, explained Schroeder who hopes to see it outdoors to attract children into the museum. 

“It’s sad the Executive Director, Gary Erwin, resigned the week before we got it,” said Schroeder. Erwin, who was temporary, had to return to his former job at the Moscone Center, San Francisco’s premier meeting and exhibition facility that had been shut down during the pandemic. “There is a void and we are looking for a new Director,” Schroeder added.

The group of volunteers are also looking for docents.

“The lower participation of docents on Tuesdays and Wednesdays meant that we will now be open Thursday through Saturday instead and the hours are now 10 to 2 pm,” said First Vice President Loran Hoffmann who arranges two docents each shift. “However, we are open for special tours.”

For docent information and training, call Hoffmann at (707) 372-7094 or go to the museum and sign up there.