Union Dairy

Union Dairy is an ice cream shop in Freeport, IL, operating as an old-fashioned ice cream parlor serving the Stephenson County community. The shop serves 51 flavors of ice cream along with custom ice cream cakes, ice cream cookies, sundaes, splits, floats, malts, and shakes, and it caters private parties ranging from a reserved table for four to the entire room for fifty. Birthday parties, field trips, and car shows are among the occasions it hosts. Summer hours run Monday through Saturday from 11AM to 8PM and Sunday from 2PM to 8PM for ice cream only. The business holds a rating of 4.50 based on customer reviews.

The parlor has been a Freeport tradition since 1914, when Albert J. Hill and Conrad F. Kaiser met while transporting milk on opposite sides of town and joined forces to establish the Union Dairy on East Stephenson Street before relocating to its current home on Douglas Street. Ice cream production at the dairy began in 1934, and many of the original recipes were created by employees in those early years, including Orange Pudding, which remains a staple today. The shop is well known for its broad ice cream menu, with standout items such as the Turtle Sundae, Banana Split, Pig Dinner, Original Holy Cow, Pretzel City, and classic sundaes, floats, and shakes.

The shop sits on East Douglas Street, directly beside the historical Lincoln-Douglas Debate site, with Lincoln-Douglas Debate Square across the way. North Adams Avenue and East Clark Street are both within a short walk, and the Freeport Post Office and Freeport Public Library are also nearby.

Union Dairy has drawn consistent positive feedback from customers and has served Freeport families for more than a century. As a long-running Freeport ice cream parlor, it continues to draw on recipes dating back to the early days of the dairy on Douglas Street.