What began as the Crystal Dairy back in the early half of the 20th century is now a completely renovated loft apartment building, and at the moment, the place I call home. While it's difficult to find exact dates on this building, a branch of the Carlyle Dairy was established in Medicine Hat in 1913. It would seem that that was this building, as in 1917 they became the Union Milk Company, which included Crystal Dairy.



The Crystal Dairy brand was known for ice cream, but milk was delivered door to door from this dairy up until the sixties. The vintage images I've posted below show the horse drawn delivery carts in the 1930s and the milk trucks in the 1950s. My parents actually remember the Crystal Dairy making deliveries as kids, although I believe it was bought out and operated by larger companies throughout its lifetime.



In the nineties the building was refurbished and expanded to create loft apartments, and another floor was added in 2010. You can still see some of the faded painted signage on some of the original brick. In my opinion, it's now one of the nicest apartment blocks in the city, and certainly has some of the best character. The original boiler is still in the basement, and a large fire escape on the opposite side of the building is popular with wedding photographers. It's a rare example of a historic building embracing its past while actually becoming significantly better than the original ever was.



Crystal Dairy ca. 1955

Adding a new floor in 2010.

Crystal Dairy ca. 1936