Cheese making in Bandon might be history, but that history will be in the present Sunday during an open house at the Bandon Historical Society Museum.

The event, from 1 to 4 p.m., will feature a history lesson on dairy farming, cheese making and the history of Bandon Cheese and the former Bandon Cheese Factory. The museum’s newest exhibit is on cheese processing and dairy farming in Bandon in its early days.

Local historians Keith Young, Jim Hanna and Joe Sinko will be discussing the early days of cheese making, dairy farms, Bandon Cheese and other cheese factories in Bandon area, and up and down the Coquille River from the 1920s until the Bandon Cheese Factory closed in 2003.

Young’s family owned a dairy farm and a cheese factory, until milk was delivered by boat to the Bandon Cheese factory. Hanna was the manager of Bandon Cheese Factory from 1960-70. Sinko, along with his son, Brad Sinko, owned and operated the Bandon Cheese factory from 1991 until 2003 when it was sold.

Local cheese makers who worked in the plant in the 1950-70 still in Bandon are Warren Hawkins, Bob Howard, Leroy Nelson and Bob Propeck.

Cheese making began in about 1800 in many small factories. In 1927, the Bandon Cheese & Produce Co. was founded, according to Judy Knox, the museum’s executive director.

After the 1936 fire, a new plant was built — Surfside Dairy — and operated until 1939 when the Coquille Valley Dairy Cooperative was formed. In 1988, the cheese factory re-opened as Bandon Foods and in 2003 the cheese factory closed for good.

Implements used in cheese making and photographs will be on display.

The museum is located at 270 Fillmore St. and U.S. Highway 101. For more information, those interested can call 347-2164.