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Dairy Isle Ice Cream Stands

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The Dairy Isle chain was established in Wooster, OH in 1951. These ice cream stands featured giant ice cream cones piercing the roof at the front of the building. The building design was created by Clarence S. Shank and patented in 1952 and 1957. The buildings were shipped as prefabricated kits and assembled on-site by the owner. There were more than 160 locations built. More than 40 locations represented at this page still exist. While most of them were apparently built in Ohio, there are plenty of examples elsewhere in the Northeast, Midwest, and a few in the South. If you know of any still-existing locations that I have missed, I'd love to hear from you.

Dairy Bar
Fonda, NY		 Young's Drive-in
Mount Vernon, OH		 Gran Gran's
Buffalo, NY
[Fonda map]; [Mount Vernon map]

Gran Gran's was previously named Munchies and later Mr. Kones. This photo is from 2010. By 2014, the top part of the cone was missing. By 2017, the building was painted gray. [map]

Dairy Island
Newburgh, NY		 Dairy Inn
Saegertown, PA		 Dairy Ace
Circleville, OH
Dairy Island opened in 1957 as a Dairy Isle. I believe it was just closed for the season when this 2010 photo was taken. [map]

[Saegertown map]

The Dairy Ace became Ritter's Scoops after this photo was taken in 2006. The building has been vacant since at least 2015. [map]

Kone King
West Seneca, NY		 Coneheads [gone]
Oneida, NY
The Kone King opened in the 1950s as a Dairy Isle. It has been Kone King since 1976. This photo is from 2010. By 2012, the cone had been repainted with sprinkles. For more, see this website. [map]

Coneheads opened in this building in 1976. This photo is from 2010. In 2013, the building became home to the Winner's Circle Pizzeria II. The cone sign was still there. The building was still there in 2018 but gone by 2019.

Fetter's Dairy Isle (west side)
Newark, OH		 Fetter's Dairy Isle (east side)
Newark, OH
Fetter's Dairy Isle west side location opened in 1965. The front part of the building has been enclosed around the cone. This neon sign appears to be unique to this location. The east side location must have been owned by the same family. In 2018, that location was boarded up and the top of the cone was missing. The building had been hit by a car. It reopened in 2019 but the top of the cone is gone. [west map]; [east map]

There is a Heath Dairy Isle location in town but it has a more modern building without a cone.

former Dairy Isle
Lorain, OH		 Dairy Isle
Toronto, OH
This Dairy Isle opened around 1971 as the Westgate Dairy Isle. Around 1994, it became Mr. Twister. The stand closed around 2010. This photo is from 2012. The building was still vacant in 2018 and, by 2019, the cone was gone. [map]

This Dairy Isle in Toronto has also been called the Dairy Owl. [map]

Dairy Dell
South Boston, VA		 former Dairy Isle
Ovid, MI
The former Dairy Isle in South Boston is now known as the Dairy Dell. The top part of the cone sign has been missing for many years. [photo thanks Robby Delius] [map]

This photo of the former Dairy Isle in Ovid is from 2005. By 2011, the building housed M21 Auto Sales and the cone had been removed. By 2016, the building was housing Tangles hair salon. By 2019, it was housing Modern Woodmen Fraternal Financial. [map]

former Dairy Isle
Follansbee, WV
This former Dairy Isle is now known as Howdy's Dari-Owl. Before 2010, there was a more realistic looking owl painted on top of the sign. This photo is from 2012. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Dairy Korner
St. Joseph, MI		 Custard Spot
Shelby Township, MI

Burk's Igloo
Hamtramck, MI		 Country Ridge Dairy Isle [gone]
Cochranton, PA
[St. Joseph map]; [Shelby Township map]

Burk's Igloo has been repainted a few times since this 2011 photo. [map]

This photo of the Country Ridge Dairy Isle is from 2010. By 2014, the Dairy Isle portion of the building had been demolished. The top part of the cone was lying next to the part of the building that remained. That piece is gone now. [map]

Singers Kreemy Deelite
(now Chicken Coop)
Oil City, PA		 K&K Dairy Corner
Belle Center, OH
This photo of Singers Kreemy Deelite is from 2007. Since 2014, the building has housed the Chicken Coop. The top part of the cone sign was removed. [map]

The photos of the K&K Dairy Corner are from 2009. The business is now known as the Belle Center Dairy Corner. The rooftop sign has been repainted. [map]

Bidinger's Ice Cream
Wadsworth, OH		 former Dairy Isle
(now School House Scoops)
Medina, OH		 Miller's Drive-in
Bellevue, OH
[Wadsworth map]

The photo of the former Dairy Isle in Medina was taken in 2007 when the building was vacant. In 2012, the building was remodeled and reopened as School House Scoops. The cone sign was removed. [map]

[Bellevue map]

Rosati's Frozen Custard
Northfield, OH		 Gilligan's Island
Sherburne, NY
The top part of the Rosati's Frozen Custard cone has been replaced and enhanced with neon. Rosati's was established in 2000. [map]

The Gilligan's Island stand is missing the top part of the cone. [map]

Gus's Dari-Bar
Marion, IN		 Mallory's Southern Delight
Marion, IN
This photo of Gus's Dari-Bar is from 2010. In 2014, the stand reopened as Shelby's Ice Cream Shoppe. By 2019, the building was housing Morrell's Fish & Chicken. The top part of the cone is gone now and the building was vacant. It now houses Imagine Burgers Express. [map]

The Mallory's Southern Delight stand was vacant when this photo was taken in 2010. The building was still vacant in 2013. By 2019, the building was housing Lucila's Tacos & Snacks. The building is now housing Crazy Munchies. [map]

Weir's Dairy Bar
Salisbury Mills, NY		 Dairy Supreme
Edinboro, PA
Weir's Dairy Bar opened as a Dairy Isle in 1956. [map]

The Dairy Supreme has one of the most realistic cone repaints that I have seen. For more, see this website. [map]

former Dairy Isle
Cleveland, OH		 Colleen's Drive-in
Arrington, VA
This former Dairy Isle in Cleveland was vacant when this photo was taken in 2011. In 2007, the business was known as Dairy Smile. By 2014, the building and cone had been painted white but was still vacant. The building was still vacant in 2016. By 2017, the cone had been painted white and the building was housing President Wilson's Sandwich Shop. I believe the building is vacant now. [map]

The Dairy Isle in Arrington has been Colleen's Drive-in since 1964. [map]

former Dairy Isle
Streetsboro, OH
2001: 2006:
This former Dairy Isle now houses a Strickland's Frozen Custard stand. When the 2001 photo above was taken, the building housed the Coney Shoppe. Before that, the stand was known as Smiley's. The smiling burger sign came from a Henry's Hamburgers. It was restored and installed at Terry's Turf Club in Cincinnati, OH. The sign was later sold to a private collector. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Rauscher's Dairy
Linesville, PA		 5th Ward Dairy Isle
Meadville, PA
The Rauscher's Dairy building is missing the top part of the cone. [map]

The 5th Ward Dairy Isle building is missing the giant cone entirely. I believe this business is closed now. [map]

former Dairy Isle
Seneca, PA		 former Dairy Isle [gone]
Austintown, OH
This former Dairy Isle in Seneca now houses a Mong's Dairy stand. I have also found it referred to as Mong's Dairy Isle. Mong's Dairy was bought out by Schneider's Dairy in 1996. However, the name of the stand has remained the same. [map]

This former Dairy Isle housed King Kar Motors when this photo was taken in 2008. The top of the cone had been removed and the roof was built up. By 2011, the building was vacant and the signs had been removed and painted over. The building was gone by 2015. [photo thanks Shawn Reagle]

More Dairy Isles:
Aurora, IN
Marysville, MI [map]
Eminence, MO [map]
Steelville, MO
Hamburg, NY
New Hartford, NY
Berlin Center, OH
Brewster, OH [gone]
Heath, OH
Lodi, OH
Tiffin, OH
Lynchburg, VA [map]
Mauston, WI

If you know of any still-existing locations that I've missed, I'd love to hear from you.

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