This 1893 photo shows two cheesemakers at the Beaver Cheese Factory. Ike Heiner (left) was the cheesemaker; Elizabeth Foland (right) was a rare woman assisting in the factory. According to "The Tillamook Way," Ike worked at Beaver for 30 years after the cooperative was formed by Merriman Foland, Joe Bixby, Walter West, Al Bunn, William Saling and others. (Photo courtesy of the Oregon Historical Society)
After the large factory was built north of Tillamook in 1949, cheese was stored and aged uniformly in refrigerated rooms. Some of the wheels of cheese were being stored because production outstripped sales. (Credit: Tacoma Public Library, D67477-89, Richards Studio)
In this ad, the front of the Tillamook cheese factory was envisioned with the name of the owner of its cheese-making equipment written along the roof edge. However, the lettering wasn't added. Inside the factory, Cheese & Dairy produced Premium Brand Cheese. (Credit: Headlight-Herald)
A typical farm in Tillamook, Oregon was photographed in 1952. (Credit: Tacoma Public Library, D67477-59, Richards Studio)
In 1964, Cheese & Dairy produced a Premium Brand Cheese sales brochure featuring a drawing of an aerial view of Tillamook Coun
ty. A portion of the drawing is shown here.
Tillamook, Oregon is known for its cheese. Less well known, except to locals who experienced it, is the Cheese War of the 1960s. More information is in the book, Cheese War, available now. Read some reviews and buy a copy from OSU Press, your local bookstore, the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum or Amazon. In addition, Cheese War has been turned into a Talking Book by the Oregon State Library!
Please join us at a book reading at the North County Recreation Center, 36155 9th St. in Nehalem, on Saturday, April 26 at 3:30 p.m. Learn more about Mohler and Alder Vale cheese factories! This is a benefit for the Nehalem Valley Historical Society; tickets cost $10 at the door. See you there!
This website contains documents, photos and newspaper articles that add to the history of the Cheese War. Also visit our Facebook page!
