Park Name Recommendation – “Stueve Family Heritage Park”
I think we can all agree that the dairy industry played a significant role in putting the City of Chino and the Chino Valley on the map and at one time was known as the “Dairy capital of the world. ”
In the early 1940’s, the 3 oldest Stueve brothers of 18 siblings, later known as the Stueve Bros, moved to California after serving and completing their military service and began working for a local dairy called Foothill Dairy. In 1945, they started their own dairy in Monrovia. Along with operating the dairy, they started a home milk delivery service with their first route in Alta Dena, hence the name of Alta Dena Dairy.
In 1950, the Stueve brothers expanded their operation and purchased 3 properties in the City of Chino. In later years, they purchased 2 more properties, which then totaled 750 acres. In 1953, Alta Dena Dairy became the first and only dairy certified for raw milk production. In 1985, Alta Dena Dairy celebrated their 40th anniversary. At that time, the Chino dairies were milking cows in 12 milking parlors and had a herd of approximately 28,000 head of cattle, which included 10,000 milking cows that were producing 70,000 gallons of milk per day. Because of these numbers, the Alta Dena Dairies in Chino were known as the largest family-owned and operated dairy in the world.
Additional contributions to the dairy industry and City of Chino from the Stueve Family:
- Members of the Chino Chamber of Commerce
- Members of Chino Dairy Days committee
- Sponsored and promoted Chino Dairy Day at Van Vliet Dairy for many years which included supplying milk and ice cream for attendees - Employed over 150 local people to work on the dairy and farmland - Gave tours to local school children
- Hosted and gave dairy tours to over 30 foreign dairy industry groups - As the family business grew, they contracted with over 30 local dairies in Chino to supply milk for the Alta Dena processing plant the Stueve family owned and operated
- Sponsored the Dairy milking barn exhibit at the LA County Fair for many years where they also enlisted the help of local feed companies and dairy supply companies to operate the milking barn for the world to learn “Where milk comes from”
- For many years, they took cows from the Chino dairies to Angel Stadium to participate in “Dairy Night” where players from each team competed to see who could milk the cow and get the most milk. Many families from the Chino Valley attended this event
- To this day, Stueve family members support the local Chino Fairy 4H Program each year