History of Odebolt, Iowa

Odebolt History Pages

The Odebolt Dairy and Cheese Factory


Photo of the factory when it was new in 1947. [Click to enlarge]

 Submitted by Mel & Harold Lindner, sons of Mr. & Mrs. August Lindner.  Both Mel and Harold graduated from Odebolt High School; Mel in 1949 and Harold in 1942.  Harold carried on the family tradition and went on to be a master cheese maker in Iowa and Wisconsin.

The Odebolt Dairy and Cheese Factory was started by Mr. and Mrs. August Lindner in 1937.

Mr. and Mrs. Lindner were master cheese makers and gained their experience working in factories and dairies in Mississippi, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Their first factory in Odebolt was located in the northwest portion of the Coy building.

Milk was trucked in from farms surrounding Odebolt each day. As the farmers increased their milk production, more milk trucks were added to bring the milk from the farms to the factory. Later when the factory was in full production the dairy owned and operated three milk trucks and, in addition, employed a private trucker to bring in milk from farms each day. The local farmers increased their milk production until the factory took in a total of 15,000 pounds of milk daily. In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Lindner operating the plant, they employed the help of three men full time.

The plant manufactured cheddar and colby cheese, two types of cottage cheese, made and sold butter, pasteurized and sold milk by the quart locally and sold both cultured and natural buttermilk, made orange, grape, and grapefruit soft drinks which were sold at the factory. Also, pasteurized coffee cream and whipping cream was available. All products could be purchased at the factory; however, the bulk of the cheese was trucked to packing plants in Des Moines, Sioux City, and Omaha. During the later years of the second world war, one-half pints of pasteurized milk were bottled in glass bottles and delivered each school day to the grade schools in town.

Immediately after the second world war a new state-of-the-art dairy and cheese factory was built (where the present day fire department is located). This new plant was put into operation in 1947 and later came under new management in the late 1940s. Due to health reasons, Mr. and Mrs. Lindner gave up the business and moved to western South Dakota. The building later became the home of the Langle Dairy.


Location of the Creamery in 1937 & 1947
Hand-drawn map from Mel Lindner
[Click Map to enlarge]

See the Langle Dairy page


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