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The Big Cheese!
Oxford County was the birthplace of the commercial cheese industry in Canada. In 1865, James Harris erected the first cheese factory in Ingersoll, Ontario. To stimulate interest among foreign buyers, a group of Oxfords producers co-operated to manufacture a gigantic cheese in June 1866. Weighing 7,300 pounds, measuring 21 feet in circumference and 3 feet in height. The average cheese at the time, weighed 60 pounds. Six horses hauled the Big Cheese to the Great Western Station in Ingersoll. The cheese was shipped to the New York State Fair in Saratoga. It was then sent to London, England where it soon caused Canadian cheddar to be a much sought-after commodity and opened the market for a lucrative export trade.
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