Sausage Makers

The Oldest Sausage Makers in America List

With American culture often being timed in nanoseconds, we wanted to highlight those families and companies that have dedicated many years to making sausages part of our country’s culinary tradition.

Standing At sausage makers Usinger's Front Door
Kent Kleiva visits Usinger’s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s oldest sausage maker.

The intent of this list is to capture those sausage makers who have a retail store or restaurant where a sausage aficionado can actually go to and buy or sample some sausages.

The term bucket list comes to mind and I hope we’ll soon hear of someone who has eaten sausage from all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and has completed the Sausagefest Trail of the oldest sausage makers in America.

Kent and Dewig Family at Dewig Meats, Haubstadt, Indiana
Kent and Dewig Family at Dewig Meats, Haubstadt, Indiana

The following list is a work in progress and we welcome corrections or additions to the list. For those interested in helping out, just email us at: kentkleiva03@gmail.com

StateOldest Independent Sausage MakersStart DateLocation
AlabamaZeigler Sausage1927Tuscaloosa
AlaskaAlaska Sausage & Seafood1963Anchorage
ArizonaSchreiner's Fine Sausage1955Phoenix
ArkansasPetit Jean's Meat1928Morrilton
CaliforniaEngelhart Gourmet Foods Inc.; Schwarz Sausage1911Fairfield
ColoradoPolidori Sausage1925Denver
ConnecticutD& D Market1932Hartford
District of ColumbiaWagshal's1925In the District
Delaware
FloridaJohnson's Meat Market1926Monticello
GeorgiaRoger Wood Foods1936Savannah
Hawaii
Idaho
IllinoisWurst Kitchen1895Aurora
IndianaDewig Meats1916Haubstadt
IowaGraziano Brothers1912Des Moines
Kansas
Kentucky
LouisianaVaucresson Sausage1899New Orleans
Maine
Maryland
MassachusettsFurtado's1903Fall River
MichiganVollwerth's1915Hancock
MinnesotaMackenthun's Fine Foods1917Waconia
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
NevadaJohn Mull's Meats1954Las Vegas
New Hampshire
New JerseyC.W. Brown Foods1887Mount Royal
New Mexico
New YorkHofmann1879Syracuse
North CarolinaNeese's1917Greensboro
North Dakota
OhioSchmidt's1886Columbus
OklahomaJ.C. Potter Sausage Company1949Durant
OregonOtto's Sausage Kitchen & Meat Market1922Portland
PennsylvaniaWeavers of Wellville1889Wellsville
Rhode IslandMarcello1934Cranston
South CarolinaFour Oaks Farm1929Lexington
South DakotaLee's Meat & Sausage1977Tea
TennesseeSwaggerty1930Kodak
TexasSouthside Market1882Elgin
UtahColosimo's1923South Salt Lake City
VermontHarrington's1873Richmond
VirginiaS. Wallace Edwards & Sons1926Surry
WashingtonThe Oberto Sausage Company1918Kent
West VirginiaBallard's1946Wayne
WisconsinUsinger's1880Milwaukee
WyomingBrattis Meat Market1946Casper