Crowley Cheese Factory facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Crowley Cheese Factory
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 Location in Vermont
Location in the United States
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| Location | 14 Crowley Ln., Healdville, Vermont |
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| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Built | 1881 |
| NRHP reference No. | 79000226 |
| Added to NRHP | October 11, 1979 |
The Crowley Cheese Factory is a very old and special place in Healdville, Vermont. It's where the Crowley Cheese Company makes its delicious cheese. People believe this company is the oldest one in the United States that makes cheese from scratch! The factory was built way back in 1881. Even today, they still make cheese using the same old methods and recipes. This amazing factory was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
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The Historic Crowley Cheese Factory Building
The Crowley Cheese Factory is found about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) southwest of the small village of Healdville. It's a simple, two-and-a-half-story building made of wood. The building is about 30 by 40 feet (9.1 by 12.2 m) in size. It has a pointed roof and a chimney in the middle. The outside walls are covered with horizontal wooden boards called clapboard siding.
The front of the building has four window or door openings. A small, single-story porch with a slanted roof covers the two middle openings on the ground floor. The side of the building with the pointed roof has three openings. There's another entrance on this side, near the corner. You can also see loading doorways on all three levels in the center. A short crane-like arm sticks out from the top of the roof. This arm was used to lift things up to these doorways.
Inside, the ground floor is where the cheese is made. Large vats, which are like big tubs, take up much of one side. The other side is used for drying the cheese. The small porch area holds equipment for waxing the finished cheese wheels. The cheeses are then stored to age in the basement or on the second floor. These areas now have special controls to keep the temperature and humidity just right.
How Crowley Cheese Began
The Crowley Cheese Company started in 1881. It was founded by a person named A. Winfield Crowley. His family owned the company for 85 years, for three generations! The company was created to use extra milk from local farmers. This milk would be turned into cheese and sold at the Healdville train station.
The Crowley family had already been making cheese from their own milk. They had facilities at their farm, which was just up the hill from where this factory stands. In the past, before modern refrigerators, factories like this were common. You could find them all over Vermont.
Most of these old cheese factories closed down over time. This happened because fewer farms were operating in Vermont. Also, new refrigeration technology made it possible to ship dairy products much farther away. The Crowley Cheese Company is special because it's believed to be the oldest cheese company still running in Vermont. It's also one of the oldest in the entire country that has been making cheese continuously.
More to Explore
Find Out More Online
- Official Website: http://www.crowleycheese.com/
