Description: I was happy that I was able to make it to Monroe this month before the National Historic Cheesemaking Center closes for the winter. With tourism dropping off November through March, the Monroe Welcome Depot Center and this historical museum go on hiatus until spring thaw. When in season, they are open Monday through Saturday 9:00am - 4:00pm and Sunday 11:00am - 4:00pm.
The historic train depot was built in 1888 and moved to this new location in 1993 thanks to the commitment and financial support from members of the community. While a majority of the building houses the National Historic Cheesemaking Center, It is so home of the Green County Visitor Center and the Milk House Gift Shop.
Visitors enter the museum for a volunteer led tour tracing the history of cheesemaking in Wisconsin from the early beginnings of the 1850's. At the turn of the 20th century there were approximately 200 cheese factory farms scattered across the state and by 1920 there were nearly 2,800! With the explosion of European immigration to Wisconsin bringing old world cheese recipes coupled with the need to transport milk a short distance to get it to the cheesemakers, cheese factories were found at most every intersection of country roads lacing the countryside.. Today, however, with transport being faster over greater distances, a large number of the old cheese factories have simply disappeared. It is documented that there are just 129 cheese factories in production throughout Wisconsin. Our total production is roughly 2.6 billion pounds of cheese - 25% of all cheese made in America.
The evolution of cheesemaking thanks to innovation and automation is traced through a number of educational exhibits, largely made possible by donations from local families with ancestors who came to Wisconsin to farm her fertile lands perfect for raising dairy cows. One of the early inventions (c-1890) was the Babcock milkfat testing device, which is still used today to determine which cows produce the richest milk most desirable for cheesemaking.
Visitors can walk through how cheese was manually made, from the heating of the milk over wood fires, stirring as the curds form to the point of having to be skimmed out of huge copper kettles. Photos depict the use of cheesecloth as the cheesemaker physically leaned over and across the hot kettle. The cheesecloth filled with curds would be emptied into the wooden wheels which were pressed to remove excess liquids and forming the cheese. After aging, the large two hundred pound wheels would be prepared for delivery to the purchaser of the cheese . . . or cut into smaller pieces more suitable for retail sales.
I loved how the story was told through a blend of antiques and old photos. I also thoroughly enjoyed having Sue as my volunteer guide, walking me through the entire process, to include some local stories of what life on a dairy farm was like back in the old days.
For anyone interested in seeing cheese made as they did it more than 100 years ago, you owe it to yourself to come to Monroe the second Saturday of June each year when they reenact the cheesemaker's manual efforts to make a 90 pound wheel of Swiss cheese. It all takes place at the Imobersteg Farmstead Cheese Factory which is located on the property adjacent to the Monroe Welcome Depot.
A little about the Imobersteg Farmstead Cheese Factory. The small wooden 20' x 20' building was donated to the National Historic Cheesemaking Center back in 2010 when the 92 year old Arnold Imobersteg decided to "share the wealth" of his family's heritage from their cheesemaking legacy. The cheese factory remained essentially as it was when in production in the early 1900's with many original items in tact and unused since 1917. The cheesemaking equipment found in the building included the copper kettle, press table, intake wheel and the wheel press. This equipment is used today by master cheesemakers as part of the annual demonstration each June.
The National Historic Cheesemaking Center has a $5 per person admission fee which goes to support their mission of preservation.
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