Cove. it was said of 0D. McLeod's store that customers could buy anything from a "needle to an anchor" and this was very true. After some fifty years of operation, the business was closed out in 1954. There was no longer the meeting place where people would mingle. The cOunters were sometimes used as seats for those who waited for the mail, orjust came to meet others and exchange the news and the happenings of the day. The large faced Gilbert clock with standard time in gold letters, which was on the wall above the front door, was the time authority.
"Over a century ago, in 1894,'Messrs. Warren Brenton and Richard Spillet came from Ontario to Prince Edward Island and organized the dairy industry. Within a short period, cheese factories such as that in Orwell Cove could be found in 18—20 areas of the province.
The dairy cow was a veritable manufacturing plant. After freshening, she is capable of producing twice daily, sometimes three times. Milk may be manufactured into many forms of cheese, notably cheddar; cream into butter; ice cream; and it is a good substitute for mother's milk for babies. Milk is the basis for the formation of good strong teeth. It is an almost perfect food. The Orwell factory, so named although located in Orwell Cove, operated for some forty years. It eventually closed, as patrons dropped off for a number of reasons, the principal being competition from privately owned Charlottetown factories, Central Creameries Limited, in particular.
The factories in the various localities were quite similar in appearance, possibly 100 feet long by 30 feet wide and 14 feet high, with a fairly steep roof. The patrons of the factory came from as far away as Belleview and Kinross and embraced the area within bounded by Lower Newtown.
The equipment in the beginning would include a coal fired steam engine, the boiler of which would supply steam for
heating and cleaning purposes. As well there would be scales — vats, necessary presses - etc.
The practice was to have milk haulers service various runs, and
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