Inside an Abandoned Cheese Factory: Baltic, Michigan

WARNING: Under no circumstances should you enter this property. By doing so you risk bodily harm and/or prosecution for trespassing on private property.

The Houghton County village of Baltic sits in the Keweenaw Peninsula and grew around the Baltic Mining Company in 1898. In 1902 the post office opened, joining a general store and doctor's office. By 1918 the population was 3,000.

In 1931 the mining operation took a nosedive with workers, their families, and residents leaving and looking for employment elsewhere.

Later in the 1930s, the old Baltic mine was put to use once again...but not for mining, not for lumber, but for making cheese.

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The Stella Cheese Factory took over the property and began cheesing until the 1960s. A good thirty years were put in, but the plant was now closed...and it has remained crumbling and deserted ever since.

Stella Cheese dates back to 1923, when an Italian diplomat named Count Bolognesi fell in love with Wisconsin...in particular, the “rolling pastures, clear waters, and pure milk”. In order to get a taste of Italy in his new homeland, he brought in a master cheeser from Italy, who began making parmesan cheese on the count's farm. The cheese caught on with the locals, and soon the cheese became well-known through the area and beyond.

The old Baltic mine made a perfect spot to open another cheese factory, even though it was over one hundred miles from the count's adopted home state.

The gallery below shows where the old mine/factory is, along with many photos of how it appears today.