Woodbury historian’s milk bottle presentation hits the road

Milk and its related dairy products hold a nostalgic place in many of our hearts, yet there was a time where pure, healthy milk was a rare commodity. That all changed a little over 150 years ago when a combination of powerful ideas and persistent conflicts ignited a lucrative market in New York State’s Hudson Valley.

Woodbury historian Alex Prizgintas has given his presentation detailing Orange County’s history with the milk industry at various venues across the Hudson Valley. Now he will be taking it on the road to the Mahwah Public Library on Thursday, September 12 at 7 p.m. As part of the presentation, he will uncover Orange County’s role in the consumer use of fluid milk. Individuals instrumental in this creamy saga, from Erie Railroad station agent Thaddeus Selleck who first shipped milk by rail in 1842 to milk can pioneer Jacob Vail and the early milk bottle user Alexander Campbell, all had close connections to Orange County. The results of their efforts gave birth to the golden age of local agriculture that fueled over 4,000 farms of all kinds by 1884 and kept dairy farms prospering into the mid-20th century.

Prizgintas will also showcase some of the dairy farms that once populated the town and city of Newburgh and bring a collection of Newburgh milk bottles from the Orange County Milk Bottle Museum.

In addition to his role at the Woodbury Historical Society, Prizgintas is a life-long resident of Orange County and a Marist College graduate student studying public administration. He has 10 years of lecturing experience across the tri-state region and has been published in the Hudson River Valley Review, Orange County Historical Society Journal, and the New York Archives Magazine.