America's Oldest Cheese Shop Is In An Unexpected State

Marin French Cheese Co., which opened in Petaluma, California, in 1865, is America's oldest cheese shop. Because the country's origins began in the east and slowly trickled west, it may seem odd for the oldest cheese shop to be located in the Westernmost state. But the shop's deep-rooted history is largely attributed to the Gold Rush, which brought slews of new people to California — and introduced a wide variety of cheeses and diverse new foods to the area.

Bordering Sonoma County, one of the world's most notable wine regions, Marin French Cheese features a shop that specializes in handmade French cheeses and has expansive picnic grounds. Marin is known for its take on soft-ripened cheeses, such as brie — one of the best picnic cheeses — and camembert. It credits some of its popularity with the decision to add more flavor to its cheeses using ingredients like mustard seeds, truffles, and jalapenos. The cheese shop uses locally sourced milk to produce its cheese and emphasizes the importance of terroir, a French term for how a region's terrain characterizes its agricultural products.

The company has made a strict commitment to maintaining tradition. For more than 150 years, Marin French Cheese Co. has kept production in the same creamery and remained true to the handmade cheesemaking methods on which the company was founded.

In 1865, Jefferson Thompson purchased a 700-acre dairy ranch that became the Marin French Cheese Co. In the wake of the Gold Rush, the Bay Area experienced a huge population boom. The massive migration resulted in an egg shortage as farmers struggled to meet demand. Looking for alternative protein sources, Thompson crafted a cheese that could be consumed at breakfast. While some believe the oldest cheese shop in the U.S. was Alleva Dairy in Little Italy, Manhattan, which opened in 1892 (perhaps because Alleva Dairy's location aligned with the historical progression of the U.S. from east to west), Marin French Cheese Co. actually opened 27 years earlier.

Thompson's two sons, Jeff and Rudolph, took ownership of the company in 1897, which is when Marin pivoted its focus to French cheese. After American soldiers returned home from the world wars (which have had long-standing effects on American cuisine), there was an increased demand for French cheeses and European foods. In later decades, the demand continued to grow, necessitating the Marin French Cheese Co. to expand three times between 1969 and 1979. In 2005 and again in 2010, the cheese shop's triple crème brie placed first in the brie category at the World Cheese Awards in London — in 2005 this was the first time a U.S. cheese had won a European competition. Today, Marin French Cheese is available at its flagship location and in grocery stores nationwide.