Property Record
3477 VALLEY SPRING RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Shady Bend Cheese Factory |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 4799 |
| Location (Address): | 3477 VALLEY SPRING RD |
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| County: | Dane |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Cross Plains |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 7 |
| Range: | 7 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 34 |
| Quarter Section: | SE |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | NW |
| Year Built: | |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1977 |
| Historic Use: | cheese factory |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Asphalt |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | When the Shady Bend Cheese Factory began making Swiss cheese in the summer of 1924, it was then one of seven cheese factories operating within a ten mile radius of Pine Bluff. The other factories included one at Riley next to the train station, the Krantz Cheese Factory, another at Klevenville, the Pleasant Ridge Cheese Factory on County J, the Pleasant Grove Cheese Factory on County S and the Pine Bluff Cheese Producing Company near the Pine Bluff intersection (Mentioned under AHI # 4794). Like similar cooperatives all over Wisconsin at the time, local farmers contributed their milk production to the Shady Bend operation, agreed to maintain the quality of their milk and shared the factory's profits. And like other Wisconsin cheese operations, this one hired a master cheesemaker to supervise production and guarantee high quality. The best-known man to hold this position at Shady Bend factory was Robert Scheidegger, who returned to Switzerland to marry his sweetheart and the couple then returned to this country. The last cheesemaker at Shady Bend was Grant Disrund, who was in charge of the plant when it closed in the mid-1950s. The Shady Bend property then reverted to the father of James Connors, one of the farmers to had participated in the cooperative. The Shady Bend plant's demise in the 1950s - like that of many small cheese operations - can be linked to a major change in dairy technology. Milk that had previously been stored in milk cans was now being placed in bulk coolers and bulk tankers then delivered it to firms in Mt. Horeb and other more distant locations. Owners since have removed the asbestos exterior and added vinyl siding. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Town of Cross Plains Architecture and History Inventory. October 2009. Prepared by Mary Jane Hamilton. Vera Riley, Cathy Fjelstad, and Ken Esser. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |