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Johnson Creamery
The Johnson Creamery is a red brick office complex located at 400 W. 7th Street. Tenants include Sproutbox and Pinnacle Properties. Three buildings are located in the complex. It is currently owned by a group of West Coast investors.
History
Ground was broken for the Bloomington Creamery on the corner of Washington Street and Smith Avenue in 1895. In 1905 Melvin Faris became the sole owner after buying out S. S. Smith, Harvey Smith, T. L. Faris and Samuel T. Smith.
The current building dates to 1912 when Ward Johnson and Ellis Johnson began Johnson’s Dairy Products to produce milk and ice cream. The company continued to deliver their products by horse-drawn truck through the 1930's, but discontinued operations in 1987, deciding to ship raw milk to Indianapolis rather than process it in Bloomington. The company then leased a large facility from Harrell Mechanical on west 11th Street and Vernal Pike.
The building, then owned by the Dick Huffman family, stood empty until 1993, when Joe Harrell and the Eighth Street Development Corporation renovated it. The architects were Odle, McGuire & Shook. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.
Pinnacle Properties purchased the building but due to financial difficulties were forced to sell it in 2009.
