Harmony Valley Creamery Association
Located in “downtown” Harmony, 8 miles north of Cayucos on Highway 1, The Excelsior Cheese Factory, a large two-story wooden structure outfitted with all the best appliances used in the cheese factories of New York, was established on this site c.1870. At its peak the factory produced 1,200 lbs of cheese a day, but production was erratic and finally ceased altogether. In 1908 the factory got a new lease on life when M. G. Salmina built the present structure and opened for business as The Diamond Creamery. The Harmony Valley Creamery Association was formed in 1913 with 22 charter members, all Swiss-Italian dairymen. By 1936 membership had reached 400 and the Harmony plant grew to include a co-op store stocking supplies for the dairymen and a market for products manufactured by the creamery. The association was affiliated with the Challenge Creamery and Butter Association until 1956. Cheese and butter making ceased in 1958 as the dairy farms changed to beef cattle, although for a short while bulk milk continued to be pasteurized at the plant.
For many years, Harmony has been a home for craftsmen working in glass and pottery. Buildings that once housed the creamery operation now reverberate with the hum of glass-blowing furnaces and pottery kilns. The land that initially supported dairy cattle is now being given over to viticulture and a winery, but the magic of the place remains.
(This excerpt was reproduced with permission from www.heritageshared.org.)
Located in “downtown” Harmony, 8 miles north of Cayucos on Highway 1, The Excelsior Cheese Factory, a large two-story wooden structure outfitted with all the best appliances used in the cheese factories of New York, was established on this site c.1870. At its peak the factory produced 1,200 lbs of cheese a day, but production was erratic and finally ceased altogether. In 1908 the factory got a new lease on life when M. G. Salmina built the present structure and opened for business as The Diamond Creamery. The Harmony Valley Creamery Association was formed in 1913 with 22 charter members, all Swiss-Italian dairymen. By 1936 membership had reached 400 and the Harmony plant grew to include a co-op store stocking supplies for the dairymen and a market for products manufactured by the creamery. The association was affiliated with the Challenge Creamery and Butter Association until 1956. Cheese and butter making ceased in 1958 as the dairy farms changed to beef cattle, although for a short while bulk milk continued to be pasteurized at the plant.
For many years, Harmony has been a home for craftsmen working in glass and pottery. Buildings that once housed the creamery operation now reverberate with the hum of glass-blowing furnaces and pottery kilns. The land that initially supported dairy cattle is now being given over to viticulture and a winery, but the magic of the place remains.
(This excerpt was reproduced with permission from www.heritageshared.org.)