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Cheese factory raised a stink in Brooklin's history In a follow-up to last month's column on the Brooklin Creamery, let's delve into the history of Brooklin's other dairy-related industry: cheese. The record shows that the residents of Brooklin were not as keen about local, homemade cheese as they were about the cream and butter produced at the creamery. The Brooklin cheese factory was located at 90 Baldwin St., just north of the bridge over Lynde Creek. The two-storey, brick building was first constructed as a store by Stephen Mead Thomas in the early 1860s. Mr. Thomas then sold the building to Robert Campbell Warren in the late 1870s, and Mr. Warren continued to operate it as a general store. The building suffered a number of fires before it was turned into the cheese factory by Marly Valleau in 1896. Not much is known of Mr. Valleau, except that according to The Chronicle in April 1896, he was hard at work prep- ping the factory for its opening on May 1 but by June 26, despite reports of a successful first couple of weeks, "because of the small amount of milk coming in, the cheese factory has been closed. The expense of running was more than Mr. Valleau was getting for making the cheese he turned out." The newspaper reporter then writes of his own continued hope that greater interest is taken in Brooklin's cheese industry so that it does not "die out" in the community. By October of the same year, Mr. Valleau, likely still reeling from the failure of his business, moved his family from Brooklin to Toronto. Much to the chagrin of the reporter, it seems that the production of cheese in Brooklin went dormant until at least 1901 when John Sprung, a cheesemaker from Oshawa, revived the factory at 90 Baldwin St. making improvements to the machinery. The newspapers were reporting on this revival in a similarly hopeful manner: The Ontario Reformer, on May 17, 1901, wished "Success to this mortgage-lifting industry" and John Sprung. No doubt they realized the potential in this second attempt at a Brooklin cheese factory. At the close of 1901, the annual general meeting of the patrons of the Brooklin cheese factory reported that 36,913 pounds of cheese were generously produced from 397,197 pounds of milk. Despite the early successes, Mr. Sprung urged his patrons, made up of citizens from all over Ontario County, to continue promoting the business so the following year would be more prosperous. Unfortunately, 1909 would see the Whitby Gazette publishing the following headline: "Old Brooklin cheese factory to be used for storing apples." And just eight years later, the location was transformed into a garage. The building at 90 Baldwin St., with its troubled history of cheese production, was finally demolished in 1936 and all hopes of a cheese factory in Brooklin along with it. Sarah Ferencz is the archivist at the Whitby Public Library. Contact her at archives@whitbylibrary.on.ca durhamregion.com The Citizen August 23, 2013 5 SARAH FERENCZ Whitby Public Library Archivist History BROOKLIN -- This historic photograph, circa 1906, shows Hwy. 12 looking south from Coulston Street, with the Brooklin cheese factory bulding on the right. COURTESY WHITBY ARCHIVES