100 YEARS OLD
CENTENNIAL 1855-1955

The Cheese factory continued strong growth, but due to some personal problems Harry took his own life on September 18, 1963. The factory was sold to Raymond Harms of Wellsburg. 

Mr. Harms died a short time after taking over, of a sudden heart attack and his young son Kenneth took over the operation. 

In 1968 the factory closed with little hope of revival but after being silent for more than four years became a beehive of activity in April of 1973 when three goat herd owners and former plant manager Ken Harms prepared to produce their first batch of goat cheese making it the first goat cheese plant in Iowa. 

Merrill Gruber of Cedar Falls, Ward Ryan of Dayton and Mr. and Mrs. Carl Singbusch of Baxter each invested $500 to bring the old cheese factory out of mothballs. 

When they began Ken Harms admitted, “I’ve never tried to make goat cheese before. We’ve been looking for some information but nobody seem to have any. Iowa State University doesn’t have any. 

“It’s pretty much going to be a hit or miss operation to begin with and we’re going to do some experimenting, he said. 

There plan was to produce a soft cheese with a texture similar to Velveeta which was unheard of in the business. 

The operation was to be the principal supplier for a Pennsylvania company which distributed to 16 states. 

The demand for goat cheese was greater than the supply most being imported from other countries. The hope was to capture the U.S. market. 

Even with a positive outlook and what seemed to be a good market the project was short-lived and the plant finally closed permanently the following year. Now in 1976 the building stood empty.