Did someone say Cheese 🧀? A Cheese factory is a good place to observe Cheese being processed. In West Jefferson, North Carolina is just such a place, Ashe County Cheese.
Ashe County Cheese is North Carolina’s oldest cheese plant. It has been operating continuously since 1930. Visitors, like my eldest son and myself, can watch the cheese-making process from a year-round viewing room or shop at the adjacent Ashe County Cheese.
Fandango’s One Word Challenge
Interesting History:
In 1930, The Kraft Corporation established the factory by consolidating several small community dairy and cheese plants in the region to produce traditional cheddar daisy wheels. Then in 1975, Kraft sold the facility to Chesley Hazlewood. Later on, Jerry Glick and Doug Rudersdorf purchased the business. They added a public viewing room (in which we were able to watch the cheese being prepared. The viewing room turned the plant into a regional tourist attraction.
Between 1986 and 1991 the Cheese factory company changed ownership through Finevest Services Inc. (1986) and Interlaken Capital (1991). Then again in 1994, Newburg Corners Cheese Inc., led by Mike Everhart and Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker Tom Torkelson, bought the business.
In 2004, the company divided into two (2) distinct entities:
- The Ashe County Cheese Company, the manufacturing plant managed by Everhart and Torkelson.
- The Ashe County Cheese Store, the retail side of the business which is run by the Everhart family.
We visited both the manufacturing plant and the retail store which are located across the street from each other in West Jefferson. By the way, the cheese is fantastically delicious. They even sell goat cheese and other things. They sell many different flavours and varieties of cheeses.
Click on images to enlarge.
Fandango’s One Word Challenge (FOWC)-Cheese
Photo Credit: Copyright ©️2017 Deb L. Waters … All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Apple iPhone 7 Plus
Location: Ashe County Cheese Company and Ashe County Cheese Retail Store; West Jefferson, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Have a fabulous day and weekend. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
