It has now been several years since the remnants of the old Watonga Cheese Factory were reduced to a pile of rubble by bulldozers and backhoes. Now, all that remains is history.
The factory hasn’t been in Watonga since it moved to Perryton, Texas back in September of 2010. But, the condemned building sat as a ghostly reminder of Watonga’s yesteryears. A time when Watonga was synonymous with cheese and the very product that carried its namesake.
Times have changed, and the building went from being nostalgic to a footnote. However, it wasn’t always that way.
Over 75 years ago, in 1940, an Iowa dairy businessman by the name of John Knudsen saw opportunity in the burgeoning town of Watonga. A farming stronghold in 1940, Knudsen recognized that Watonga was home to a number of farmers who each had two to three dairy cows yet had nowhere to sell their milk. At the time, there were cheese factories fragmented around Oklahoma, but Watonga wasn’t home to one.
In its earliest days, the factory hired local cheese makers to produce cheddar cheese. After collecting milk from local farmers, employees then crafted wheels and horns of cheese by hand. The factory then sold all its cheese to major producers – including Kraft – which then melted and repackaged the cheese.
As operations ramped up at the factory, word began to spread about the local factory’s product quality, and more people around Watonga and the surrounding communities began to buy Watonga’s local cheese. By the end of the 1940s, the factory was churning out over 50,000 pounds of cheese a week.
From 1950 through the late 1970s, Watonga’s cheese factory went from being a word-of-mouth commodity to an absolute juggernaut, as the factory produced cheese every day of the week and produced over 10,000 pounds of cheese a day – all by hand.
Farmers from as far as 150 miles away began to supply the factory with materials. Eventually, Kraft stopped purchasing Watonga Cheese and began making their own cheese as their company grew. The vendor change didn’t bother Watonga Cheese’s business as they had already begun to sell to local grocery stores and nearby stores in Enid and Oklahoma City.
Building off the factory’s success, in 1976 the Watonga Chamber of Commerce and the Watonga Cheese Factory partnered to create the Watonga Cheese Festival. Events like cheese tastings, cooking contests, art shows and races created a showcase for Watonga’s cheese prowess at the time. The festival’s biggest days were back in the 1970s and 1980s when it sprawled throughout Watonga and spilled onto the Blaine County Fairgrounds.
In 1997, the Knudsen family made the decision to sell the company to a group of five investors in Oklahoma City. However, the new owners changed the original recipe, to the dismay of many consumers around the state.
Casey and Brandi Cowan purchased the factory in early 2002 and rebuilt the company, which was having difficulties after the Oklahoma City investors strayed from the original Watonga Cheese recipe and processes.
Upon buying the factory over a decade ago, Casey spent months learning Watonga Cheese’s original recipe and processes under the direction of its original cheese maker, Kenneth “Ice Water” Johnson. Under the tutelage of Johnson, the Cowans returned to the factory’s original recipe, process and equipment as the cheese was once again being hand processed. Johnson continued to work at the factory until he passed away in 2003. However, his sons continued to work at the factory after his death, as the factory began to recapture its past success. Brandi and Casey operated the factory from their home in Balko and from a home in Watonga over the next five years, until 2007.
In, 2007 Tropical Storm Erin brought 80- mile-an-hour winds and 9 to 11 inches of rain to Watonga. As the August 22, 2007, edition of the Watonga Republican described, “The roof was blown right off the Watonga Cheese Factory and many other businesses and residences sustained roof damage, both from falling limbs and high winds along with heavy rains.”
Upon further inspection, it was discovered that the storm actually managed to twist the building’s foundation and cinderblock walls. Two sections of the building were completely flooded. The insurance adjuster condemned the building, estimating $650,000 in damages. And later, the USDA condemned approximately 7,000 pounds of cheese inventory.
According to the Cowans, the factory’s insurance settlement didn’t cover costs to rebuild, so a decision had to be made. After several months of looking for a new location to rebuild in and around Watonga, the Cowans received a number of business incentives from the city of Perryton, Texas, 170 miles away from the cheese’s namesake of Watonga.
In November 2009, the Cowans and Perryton, Texas, broke ground at the Watonga Cheese Factory’s new location over 2 ½ hours away from its origin. Six months later in 2010, the factory held its grand opening and it has operated from there since. Watonga Cheese can be
Watonga Cheese can be found year-round in Watonga at Jacky’s Lawn & Lube, Hutches and Apple Market.