Now, this something different, since I am approaching this topic in reverse. For starters, Bennett & Layton (actually when established it was Bennett & Cardinal) was a regional powerhouse of a creamery located at 75 South Gay Street, Susanville. The two-story concrete building is still there. This was a full fledged creamery that even produced its own line of ice cream.
However, the nation’s great depression of the 1930s took a toll on Bennett & Layton, like so many other enterprises. To protect their vital interest in September 1935 several Honey Lake Valley ranchers negotiated a lease with Bennett & Layton to use its cooling and sterilization section of the plant to properly prepare milk for local consumption. This group of dairymen consisted of: J.H. McClelland, Mardis Barry, L.E. DeForest, Masten Ramsey, Lester Clark, Fred Hall, J.H. Elledge and McKay & Lowe.