The Sheridan condensery finally falls

For many years residents of Sheridan could tell the time of day by listening to the whistle at the Carnation condensery at the south edge of town. If I remember correctly, the steam whistle blew at 8 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 5 to signal the work schedule for those who worked there. Now only the 6 p.m. siren at the community fire department signals the march of time.

The condensery, built in 1930 by Libby, McNeill & Libby, employed many people within its walls and on the road from area dairy farms. The whistle blew for the last time in 1975 when the Carnation Company closed the condensery’s doors.

As the buildings fell into disrepair, efforts to remove them have taken years of applications and negotiations. Finally, over the past two months, the task was completed. Several articles have been reported by The Daily News as these efforts progressed. Here is one from February 11: Demolition is underway on Sheridan’s old Carnation building.

I took a picture of the landmark corner on a sunny October day in 2010. Here are a few pictures of the demolition.

Many high-quality photos of the demolition have been posted to a community Facebook group.
I published an article about the condensery a few years ago:
From the archives: A little life left in the condensery
Thursday, February 28, 2013

The old Carnation Condensery on the south side of Sheridan has been long neglected and is destined for the wrecking ball, but it is apparently not quite done serving some usefulness.
See this video recording on YouTube of a song entitled Oxygen by We Are Leo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll67MK8g9Is