Chapin and Sachs Manufacturing

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Chapin and Sachs, sometimes known as Chapin and Sacks, Manufacturing opened a plant in Woodstock Virginia in 1910 following the purchase of the A.W. Nicodemus & Sons Creamery building on what is now East Court Street which had opened in 1903.
At the time Chapin and Sachs, headquartered in Washington DC, was one of the largest ice cream manufacturing concerns in the United States. Their trademark “Velvet Kind” ice cream was sold in the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, and Michigan. The Woodstock plant was one of eight facilities operated by the company. Woodstock was selected as the site for a plant due to the abundant supply of milk supplied by local dairy farms and the area’s rail connect to Washington DC markets.

In 1908 Chapin and Sachs constructed a new creamery on North Street. This brick facility totaled just over 30,000 square feet, was three stories tall, had two cold storage rooms, and contained a 10 ton ice plant. A large trucking fleet collected milk from throughout the valley, travelling throughout the valley to collect milk and to distribute ice cream. Over 500 farms contributed milk. Distribution points were established as far south as Timberville and as far north as Stephens City. Over 12,000 gallons of milk were handled each day. To meet their needs a well of over 200 feet was constructed to fill a 50,000 gallon reservoir and a sewer line of over one mile in length was laid between the plant and Pughs Run south of Woodstock.

Chapin and Sachs would continue to operate its Woodstock plant until around 1930 when it was sold to Southern Dairies who continued to process milk here until the 1950s. The plant was then closed and purchased by the Town of Woodstock who converted it into their public works facility. When that service moved to its current home on Moose Road in the early 2000s the former creamery was sold to a private developer and is today vacant.