CHESHIRE, Mass. – A new monument to Cheshire’s unusual claim to fame was installed in downtown this week. It’s a replica of the 1,235 lb. wheel of cheese the town presented to President Thomas Jefferson in 1802. 

"Cheshire’s Mammoth Cheese," as it’s known, was commissioned in 1801 by town minister John Leland, who had recently come from Virginia.

“He became friends with Thomas Jefferson, as well as other people in our history. James Madison and so on,” said local historian Barry Emery, who wrote a book about the cheese, titled "The Mammoth Cheese Event". “And when he moved to Cheshire, and Jefferson became our president, he wanted to do something special.”

The milk of 900 cows was used to make the cheese, and it was cured for months before being sent to Washington, D.C., a journey which took about a month.

“By ox cart, it was taken over to the Hudson River,” said Emery. “It was put on a barge, and from there it went to New York City, and everybody came out to look at it at every stop along the way. It was put on a sloop eventually in New York City, and taken through the Chesapeake Bay up to Baltimore. In Baltimore, a horse and wagon finally brought it to Washington, D.C.”

Jefferson had a policy of never accepting gifts as president, so he paid the town $200 for the cheese, and it was enjoyed at the White House for years.

“It lasted I guess for three or four years,” said Emery. “And eventually, no one knows exactly what happened, but it might have been thrown in the Potomac River because it stunk so bad after that amount of time.”

Now, this nearly life-sized replica will sit next to the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail, educating passers by on what might be Cheshire’s most famous event.