University Cheese Caves - Dr. Greg Brick

Several years ago I corresponded with Dr. Howard A. Morris, of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, regarding the former U of M cheese caves in St. Paul, MN. Beginning in the early 1930s, the university rented two caves, one twice as long as the other, from the Villaume Box & Lumber Company, which owned 14 artificial sandstone caves along what is now Plato Boulevard. Dr. Morris completed the work for his master’s thesis in these caves in the late 1940s, and he stated that by the mid 1950s they were no longer used by the university. Perhaps the Mississippi River flood of 1952 put an end to the operation. Dave Gerboth recalls having seen a derelict sign for the U of M cheese caves in the late 1960s.
Dr. Morris stated that the recipe used for the “Treasure Cave” brand of blue cheese was originally developed at the U of M cheese caves, in conjunction with researchers from Iowa State University (Ames). According to the Treasure Cave website, at www.treasurecavecheese.com, “In 1936, when Treasure Cave first came into being in Faribault, MN, blue cheese wheels were actually aged in caves. Today, the Treasure Cave brand is part of ConAgra Foods, Inc., and the cheese is aged in carefully controlled storage rooms near the Mississippi River in Nauvoo, Illinois.”
Photos of the interior of the cheese caves, circa 1940, were published in a 1987 book by Virginia Kunz, The Mississippi and St. Paul, page 40. One photo shows shelves of cheese wheels stretching off into the distance, while the other shows a worker pushing a cart of cheeses through a cave.
In the collections of the Minnesota Historical Society there is a promotional booklet, “The Villaume,” published in 1940, which describes the company that rented the caves to the university. The booklet states that “Villaume has on its own property, 14 hillside caves with surface level entrances. Each cave has a ceiling height of 12 feet and is 20 feet wide. The 14 caves contain a total of 50,000 square feet of floor space, usable for manufacturing, storage, or as shelters in event of air raids.” The booklet includes a photo of four cave entrances, but it is uncertain whether any of these are U of M cheese caves. The Villaume caves became notorious party caves after the company relocated, the scene of many accidents involving teenagers, and have since come under the watchful eye of the police department. I used to wonder why the caves down there stunk so bad!
I found a map of at least one of the U of M cheese caves on an aperture card at the St. Paul Public Works Department. The cave was surveyed in 1962 by the local firm TKDA during a civil defense study. A handwritten annotation on the map points to Villaume’s Cave No. 10 as “U of M Cheese Cave.” I have included a copy of the map with this article.
Dr. Morris sent me several documents relating to the U of M cheese caves. I have transcribed below the most relevant parts of these documents, which are otherwise replete with the technical details of cheese making.

“The Manufacture of Blue Cheese,” typescript labeled “rough draft,” no date.

“…in 1933 when the Dairy Division of the University of Minnesota became actively interested in the manufacture of this cheese in so far as was known no blue cheese was being manufactured commercially in this country.
The high cost of providing suitable curing facilities was believed to be one of the principle reasons for lack of commercial interest. Activity…was stimulated primarily by the availability of sandstone caves which it was believed might afford conditions suitable for the manufacture of the cheese at a cost much lower than would be possible with artificial refrigeration and air conditioning.

Description of caves used in ripening blue cheese:

Numerous caves have been dug in the St. Peter sandstone where it outcrops along the bluffs of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers in the vicinity of St. Paul. These caves have been used most intensively for the growing of mushrooms. In May, 1933, a few blue cheese [sic] were made following the methods described by Matheson and placed for ripening in a small cave. Despite the fact that the temperature of the cave rose to above 60 F. in the hot summer months, the venture was so successful that a much larger cave was rented and preparations made for the manufacture of the cheese on an experimental basis in January, 1934. A recording hygrometer was installed in the cave in February, 1934. Records secured with this instrument have been supplemented by determinations made from time to time with a sling psychrometer. Figure 1 [not included] depicts the temperature fluctuations in the cave based on the weekly average dry bulb thermometer readings…
As shown in Figure 1 the temperature of the cave fluctuates about 3 F. during the year. The lowest temperature is in March or April and the highest usually in September. The cave temperature thus follows that of the atmosphere with a lag of about two months.
The cave originally was newly dug. In dimensions it was about 16 ft. x 16 ft. in cross section and extended back into the bluff 110 ft. The mouth of the cave was closed with a tight wooden framework…
A larger cave of about the same cross section but over 200 feet deep was secured in 1935. This cave had been used for growing mushrooms, and when first observed had a rather musty odor. Approximately an inch of sand was scraped from all surfaces of the cave in order to present clean surfaces. The musty odor virtually disappeared and did not at any time contribute to the flavor of the cheese. Although as much as 20,000 pounds of cheese was ripening in this cave at one time, and 3 100-watt electric light bulbs were lighted as much as eight hours a day, five days of the week, and two men were working in the cave during much of the time, the temperature of the cave never raised [sic] more than 1 F. above that considered normal for the season of the year. The temperature and humidity conditions in these caves appears to be quite similar to those reported by Marre as existing in the caves used for genuine Roquefort cheese except for the lack of ventilation…”

Letter from ‘Dean and Director’ to U.S Secretary of Agriculture, Henry Wallace, dated July 20, 1934, stating in part:

“There are workers who make their livelihoods constructing these caves. I am told that they get the sand which is well adapted to moulding purposes as compensation. Therefore, the possibilities for cheese caves are almost unlimited. We are presenting you with one of these cheeses….If we succeed in making a uniform product of high quality, we think we shall be paving the way for a great cheese industry because of the availability of these caves.”

“Roquefort-Like Cheese Industry for Minnesota,” typescript dated January 3, 1935, stating in part:

“The discovery that caves in the Mississippi River bluffs in and around the Twin Cities were suitable for the ripening of Roquefort-like cheeses, under conditions like those at Roquefort in France, came as a result of the observing habits of Professor Combs. There are many such caves. For years before the advent of modern refrigeration they were used for aging beer and for the storing of butter, sauerkraut, and other perishables, and for the growing of mushrooms. In 1926, two years after he came to Minnesota, Professor Combs one day went with a friend to one of these caves for some mushrooms. There he noticed a heavy accumulation of rust on a lantern used by the mushroom grower, who explained that the atmosphere in the caves was very moist. Recalling the efforts of various countries to ripen Roquefort-like cheeses in artificial chambers, and the seeming prohibitive costs of such ripening, involved in maintaining proper atmospheric…” [Following page(s) missing].