Watonga Cheese Factory
Have you been looking for the Watonga Cheese Factory?
Read on...
Since 1940, when the Knudsen
family opened it, the Watonga
Cheese Factory has been a prize
to our community. It has
been a key ingredient to
Watonga's identity for years.
From far and wide, people have
come to tour the plant, buy the
cheese, and order gift baskets.
That was until August 19, 2007
and the unwelcomed visit of
Hurricane Erin's remnants.
On the evening of August 18th, Watonga
residents went to bed expecting
windy, rainy weather.
After all, we had been through
it all before. Hurricanes
hit land in the Gulf of Mexico,
break apart and the remainder of
the storm leads to heavy rains
and wind stretching from Texas
north through Oklahoma and
beyond. It happens every
year. But never before had
we seen what this storm brought.
Not even the meteorologists
expected that the storm would
gain strength and reform an eye
over land. Classified as
an inland hurricane, it brought
9-11 inches of rain to the area
and held winds steadily over 85
miles per hour. For over
four hours our community was
battered by these constant
winds.
After the long, sleepless night, residents
of Watonga began to venture
outside of their own weather
beaten homes and what they found
was shocking. Trees down
everywhere you looked, roads
were flooded and the entire town
was without power. Nearly
100 power poles were down just
within the city limits.
Throughout town, very few
buildings avoided damage.
Some were entirely destroyed.
Some didn't look too bad from
outside, but had massive
interior damage due to wind-torn
roofs and driving rain.
Such was the case of the beloved
Watonga Cheese Factory.
The roof of the factory was destroyed and
the cinderblock walls and
foundation were cracked.
The owner of the Watonga Cheese
Factory, Casey Cowan, said that
his insurance company estimated
damage at $650,000. For
approximately a year, Mr. Cowan
investigated different avenues
that he could take; from the
possibility of repairing the
existing building, to
relocating. In the end,
Mr. Cowan decided that
rebuilding the factory is not
the right move for him and his
family. He is now back
home, near Guymon, working with
his father at their dairy farm
and the Watonga Cheese Factory
is for sale.
But the book is not closed there. The
Watonga Cheese Factory is very
important to this community.
Nearly every individual,
business and entity in Watonga
wants nothing more than to see
this local icon reopen.
For that reason, it has become a
primary goal of the Watonga
Chamber of Commerce Economic
Development Committee to locate
parties that may be interested
in this type of business
venture. They are working
diligently on this, as well as
other projects and I am sure
they will continue until the
task is complete. When the
right person is found, I think
they will be very pleased to see
how supportive this community
is.
In the mean time, the Watonga Cheese Festival
continues. We may not have
local cheese, but we still have
Oklahoma cheese and a great
festival. Keep watching
for news on the Watonga Cheese
Factory here and at
www.watonga.com. For
information about the Watonga
Cheese Festival, visit
www.watongacheesefestival.com.
To see Discover Oklahoma's
piece on the Watonga Cheese
Festival and the storm of 2007
click here.
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