Philadelphia Cream Cheese Isn't From Pennsylvania

I may be the only New Yorker who didn't realize Philadelphia cream cheese didn't come from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It actually came from Philadelphia, New York; a place I didn't even know existed.

Philadelphia is in Jefferson County in upstate New York where local diary farmers were among the first in the U.S. to provide fresh milk for making cream cheese.

Philly's Story
It begins with local dairy farmers near Beaver Dam, WI and Lowville, NY who take pride in their products. They supply Philly with fresh milk, which we combine with fresh wholesome cream. The entire process from farm to creamery takes just six days.

In the 1820s, dairy farms around Philadelphia, New York gained a reputation for producing the best examples of cream cheese.

Dairy farmer William Lawrence became the first to mass-produce cream cheese in 1873. It wasn't called 'Philadelphia Cream Cheese' until 1880 when a New York cheese distributor began to sell it. He bought the Empire Cheese company in South Edmeston to produce cheese under the Philadelphia label in 1892 but it burned down in 1900.

The Philadelphia brand name was sold in 1903 to Phenix Cheese Company and is now owned by Kraft foods.

Every year on the third Saturday in September the Cream Cheese Festival is held in Lowville

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