The Big Cheese 1866

Photo by Alan L Brown - August 19, 2004

Plaque Location

The County of Oxford
The Town of Ingersoll
On the east side of County Road 119 just north of Highway 401 south of Clark Road (Note: A truck hit the Big Cheese plaque in Ingersoll in the winter of 2005, and it's supposed to be replaced, but hasn't as of March 2006.)

Plaque Text

Oxford County was the birthplace of the commercial cheese industry in Canada. In 1865 James Harris erected on this farm the first cheese factory in the Ingersoll district. To stimulate interest among foreign buyers, a group of Oxford's producers co-operated to manufacture a gigantic cheese here in June, 1866. Weighing 3310 kg and measuring 6.4 metres in circumference, it was exhibited at the New York State Fair and in London, England.