SHEBOYGAN FALLS – Two brothers ignited the cheese industry in Sheboygan County with a farm factory and stand-alone operations in the 19th century.
Before the advent of a cheese factory, cheese was made in farm kitchens. That early cheese product was infrequently sold at market. It had several problems, which included, collecting, temperature control, rennet enzyme application, sanitation, refrigeration and aging.
The northwest corner of county Highway C and Sunset Road, as seen, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in Sheboygan Falls, Wis., which is said to be the farm where John J. Smith began the first cheese factory in Sheboygan County.
John J. Smith started his cheese “factory” in 1858 by taking in gathering curd produced by his neighbors. Quality control was lacking as every curd-maker did things something slightly different and not to a uniform standard. The individual farmers’ wives many times were responsible for curd production, according to information from Katie Riley of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center.
Smith, after collecting the curds, would finish the cheese-making process. It was said that he had improvised facilities in his house, an existing shed or a corner in his barn. He packed the cheese in barrels for shipment.
John J. Smith has been said to run the first cheese factory at his Sheboygan Falls farm back in 1858.
Making cheese was one thing, but selling that early Sheboygan County cheese met stiff resistance in Chicago. In fall 1858, Smith barreled cheese and took the barrels to Chicago to sell. Because early Wisconsin cheese was of poor quality and with the superior quality of New York cheese, dealers refused to buy his cheese until Smith paid one of them to sample his cheeses. That entire lot was then sold for 8 cents a pound.
Cheese made in Sheboygan County was starting to mean something.
Smith’s brother, Hiram Smith, started a bit later in the cheese business when in 1870 he bought the McKinnon Cheese factory from A.D DeLand and Manning…
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