In the early 1800's immigrant Fred Hunziker came to the United States from Switzerland. He was a butcher by trade and continued that work here in Croghan. Then in 1888 he established the Croghan Meat Market.

He married Louise Schneeberger and he and his young brother-in-law Jacob Frederick Schneeberger worked together in the meat business where they made a ring bologna from a recipe that Hunziker had known in Switzerland. Distribution was in the Croghan area, neighboring hamlets and also to Adirondack lumber camps where lumberjacks dubbed it 'Croghan Bologna'.

In 1907 at age 22 Jacob Schneeberger left the business to work for the J.P. Lewis paper mill in Beaver Falls, N.Y. where he worked for over 50 years until his retirement.

Fred Hunziker hired Elmer "Buddy" Campany to come and work for him. Buddy had been the meat cutter at the Fenton House, a busy Adirondack hotel located at Number Four.

Buddy married Jessie Bush who had worked in the Number Four area for the Ohio owners of the National Cash Register Company who had vacation property there. Both Buddy and Jessie were Croghan natives and probably happy to again be living in their hometown. Jessie is remembered as working very hard at canning beef which was a necessity due to limited refrigeration and which could then be sold to customers.

Hunziker had seen two fires destroy the village and after the second one in 1912 the Meat Market was built with bricks made right here in the township which match several other buildings that remain here in the village. In 1919 Hunziker retired and sold the business to Buddy Campany.

Buddy and Jessie lived in half of the building and several of their children were born here. The children recall peeling garlic and the girls recall doing some of the bookkeeping. A cousin Peter Turck recalled that his mother raised an acre of garlic which she grew for the meat market and his father had one barn full of pigs that were also sent to the meat market. Buddy's brother-in-law Leslie "Cooper" Bush also worked at the Meat Market for many years as did many other family members and young men of the community.

In 1951 Buddy retired and sold the business to his two sons John Gilbert and Anthony and to Hunzikers nephew Carl Nuspliger, whom Hunziker had raised.

In 1963 Carl Nuspliger retired, he had worked for over 50 years at the Market. He sold his share to John and Anthony Campany. In the late 1980's Anthony retired selling his share to John Gilbert. In 1995 John Gilbert sold the business to his son John Michael Campany making this a third generation owned family business.

Since 1910 the Croghan Meat Market has maintained legal registered trademarks and have valued their confidential trade secrets. It has been over 100 years of bringing the public this unique and famous 'taste of the north country'.

Customers rely on the fine reputation that has been maintained by the owners for generations. We believe this reputation remains critical to the success of the business.

Since the beginning the Meat Market has only bought the best livestock. They kill no downers, sick or crippled animals. Their fine reputation has been earned and they intend to keep it. Some of their cattle are raised on a family farm in Croghan to insure that quality livestock are always readily available.