The "Imported From Lancaster County!: Part I" Story

Turkey Hill Dairy in Lancaster County, PA

It was an ordinary day.  Traveling along Rt. 441S in Lancaster County, PA looking for the baseball field where my grandson is playing a double-header today.  As I rounded a bend in the road, there to my right was one of the most famous businesses in Lancaster County, the Turkey Hill Dairy.  Last year I took my grandson to visit the Turkey Hill Experience in nearby Columbia, PA.  

The original deed for the land where Turkey HIll is located.
Click to enlarge photographs.

I would have loved to visit the dairy where they make the ice cream and ice tea that I eat and drink, but they do not allow for personal tours.  The Turkey Hill Experience was interesting and exciting and I did post a story last summer telling of our experience,  but stopping across from the actual business was pretty neat.  Then I noticed one of the tractor-trailers, that make deliveries to the stores near me, pull into the drive to the dairy.  

Early delivery truck for Turkey Hill Dairy.

In the distance, behind the dairy, I noticed the two huge wind turbines that stand on the crest of Turkey Hill, overlooking the mighty Susque- hanna River.  The Susque- hannock Indians lived along the Susquehanna River flatlands just north of the ridge where the dairy now is located.  The ridge rises out of the river valley to form a prominent landmark which the indians named Turkey Hill for its reputattion as a natural hunting ground and for the wild turkeys that were plentiful on the ridge.  

A fleet of newer trucks.  Today they have over 150
trucks used to deliver their products.

It was William Penn's sons, Thomas and Richard, that deeded the original farm, where the present dairy stands, to the Frey family ancestors.  The deeds were scribed on sheepskin and still remain in the Frey family posession.  Armor Frey, the founder of Turkey Hill Dairy was born in 1896.  He took over the original farm from his parents, Fred and Alice Frey, and began the dairy.  

Armor Frey, founder of Turkey Hill Dairy.

The values and thoughtfulness he learned from his parents carried over into his business when in 1929 he began to bottle and sell milk to support not only his own family, but the families of his hired men.  He and his wife, Mary, had seven children.  He made his first deliveries in his personal car.  Today there are over 150 trucks making deliveries.  Armor died in 1969 after working a hard day at the dairy.  Went to bed saying he was tired and died in his sleep.  Today, Quentin Frey, Armor's grandson, is now president of Turkey Hill Dairy and the line of products has grown over the years to include ice cream, frozen yogurt, iced tea, ice cream sandwiches, and sundae cones.  

Package of Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream which
sports the logo "Where We Make It Is Why It's Good."

Many of the workers who toil in the dairy today live in the hills around Turkey Hill.  Turkey Hill Dairy is proud of their heritage in Lancaster County.  On their packages of ice cream is displayed "Where We Make It Is Why It's Good."  They are the fourth largest-selling premium ice cream and the number one refrigerated iced tea brand in the nation.  Over the last two decades Turkey Hill has tripled in size and sell their products in 49 states and over a dozen countries around the world.  Wonder if the Susquehannock Indians would have traded their skins for a gallon of Turkey Hill Ice Cream!  I know I would have!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.