The Ravenna Creamery Company’s wooden works stand across an unpaved road, their name painted prominently above a covered platform. Two louvered ventilators rise from the main roof, with a tall smokestack at the left. A wagon, several cans, fencing, and adjoining sheds fill out the premises.
An ink X above the taller building at the right corresponds to the reverse inscription, “I will mark the Ravenna Mill,” identifying a second business in the photograph. Handwritten north and south labels orient the scene. The writer also states that the railroad runs north of the creamery; this is information supplied by the inscription rather than a clearly visible feature of the photograph.
The front is inscribed “From Daisy Decker / Poole Neb.” A reverse message signed Daisy D. describes passing the creamery on trips into Ravenna, then reports nearly two hundred little chickens and thirty little ducks. The note gives the industrial view a specific local context without supplying a date.
The reverse credits “PHOTO MADE BY S. D. BUTCHER & SON, KEARNEY, NEB.” It has a divided postcard layout and a KRUXO stamp box. The message extends across both writing and address fields, but no recipient’s address, postage stamp, or postmark is present.
- Title on card
- This is the Creamery we go wright. / pass it when we go in Ravenna / I will mark the Ravenna Mill, / The railroad goes north of the / Creamery. (inscribed)
- Medium
- RPPC
- Subject
- Nebraska, Occupational, Outdoor Scene, Solomon Butcher
- Dimensions
- 5.41 × 3.47 in (137.4 × 88.1 mm)
- Condition
- Image clean and card otherwise sound. Handwritten annotations appear in the sky and side margins, with an ink X above the mill; the reverse carries a substantial handwritten message. No visible tears, cracks, or significant losses.
- Provenance
- Front inscription reads “From Daisy Decker / Poole Neb”; the reverse message is signed Daisy D. No further ownership history is supplied.
- Catalogue no.
- MRPPC3462
Catalogue details
Location
Ravenna, Nebraska · Ravenna, Nebraska, United States
Photographed subject · Locality (town) · 80% confidence
the card names only the town. Looked up as "Ravenna, Nebraska" → Ravenna, Ravenna, NE 68869, USA. Order tried: caption-town: "Ravenna, Nebraska" → city ✓; Live research: The supplied building lettering, “RAVENNA CREAMERY COMPANY,” matches an independently documented business in Ravenna, Buffalo County, Nebraska. The 1890 business gazetteer lists Ravenna Creamery Co. under Ravenna. ([negenweb.net](https://negenweb.net/NEBuffalo/gazettee/buffbus1.htm)) The Nebraska Dairymen’s Association’s 1895 directory likewise identifies Ravenna Creamery, C. A. Clark, Ravenna, Buffalo County. ([govdocs.nebraska.gov](https://govdocs.nebraska.gov/epubs/A7000/B003-1895.pdf?utm_source=openai)) Particularly strong corroboration is the historical photograph captioned “THE RAVENNA CREAMERY” in Buffalo County and Its People, volume II: it shows the same company lettering across a covered platform and a comparable wooden industrial building with roof ventilators and smokestacks. It is a corroborating view, not
Source: Card caption (town only)
