The Tillamook Valley was ideal for
dairy cattle in the mid-19th century, but transporting the milk and butter over the mountains surrounding the valley was a problem. In 1854, several farmers from the county built a
schooner named the
Morning Star to transport butter to
Portland, Oregon; the schooner is now featured as part of the co-op's logo, and a replica (constructed in 1992 by master shipwright Richard Miles of
Aberdeen, Washington) is on display at The Tillamook Cheese Factory. Peter McIntosh and T. S. Townsend established the county's first cheese factory in 1894. The association was founded by ten independent creameries in 1909. TCCA hired an ad agency and began campaigning in 1917 in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland. Under secretary-manager George R. Lawson (CEO- 1944-1950), the cooperative began producing rindless cheese in 1946 and bottled milk the following year. In 1949, partnering with four independent plants and with financing arranged through
First National Bank, the Tillamook Cheese Factory north of Tillamook was built. The enlarged facility included a storage plant and traffic department. Columbia River Processing, Inc., a second cheese-making facility, was built in
Boardman, Oregon, in September 2001. Its production capacity doubled TCCA's cheesemaking capabilities. In 2009, Tillamook County Creamery Association celebrated 100 years in business. ==Tillamook Creamery==