| Additional Information: | Previously surveyed in 2004.
See also AHI#131626.
2020-2024 Targeted Resurvey of Sheboygan recommendation write-up:
The complex that served as the Sheboygan Fibre Furniture Company from 1913 through the 1940s is comprised of two buildings, both with additions. The two-story brick building at 2012 N. 15th Street (AHI#131625) is comprised of two periods of building, 1914 and 1917-18, the latter of which immediately abuts the sidewalk. Topped with a low-pitched, gabled roofline, the street-facing elevation is comprised of a series of segmental-arched openings with brick headers and sills along each level, some having been enclosed with either board, brick or concrete block. The basement-level openings have also been boarded over. The 1914 block to the rear includes similar fenestration; again, many of which have been enclosed.
Adjacent to the north is a three-story, asbestos shingle-sheathed frame building (AHI#131626) that rises from a stone foundation and was built in 1911. Topped with a low-pitched, gabled roof, regularly placed window openings are evident along all of the three elevations visible from the street. Most windows are covered over, although some along the north side continue to retain six-over-six light, double-hung sash. From this building, two brick additions extend to the north. The three-story, brick warehouse addition to the rear was completed in 1923, while the one-story, flat-roofed, brick office wing along the street was built in 1924.
The three-story frame building was completed in 1911 and was owned by the S.W. Miller Piano Company until 1921. Incorporated in 1906 by Swan W. Miller (a Chicago piano maker) and three others, the company began manufacturing pianos on N. 8th Street. Five years later, they built the new factory on N. 15th Street. Although the firm remained in the building—and on the first floor--for one more year, it was purchased in 1921 by The Sheboygan Fibre Furniture Company, which constructed the two-story factory building (built 1914, 1917-18 addition) immediately to the south. Sheboygan Fibre was founded in May 1913 by Otto A. Mueller, Charles H. Ackermann and Joseph S. Rank. After briefly operating at N. 7th Street and Jefferson Avenue, they moved into their new N. 15th Street building in October 1914. In 1925, Ackermann sold his share of the business to Mueller and Rank; three years later Rank sold out to Mueller, who died in 1933. Mueller’s son Edwin then took over. In 1944, a portion of the complex was leased by the National Tinsel Manufacturing Company of Manitowoc, which eventually purchased the entire complex. In January 1963, National Tinsel sold the building at 2012 N. 15th Street to Lakeland Manufacturing (makers of outer sportswear for men and boys), making it their third location. However, the following year, the buildings were sold to Woodcraft, Inc. (2024) and The James Toth Sawdust Co. (2012).
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| Bibliographic References: | Architecture and History Survey. May 2009. Prepared by Jennifer L. Lehrke.
LJM Architects, Inc. City of Sheboygan, Wisconsin: Architectural and Historical Intensive Survey Report. City of Sheboygan Historic Preservation Commission & Department of City Development; 2002, 2004 & 2006.
Citations for the 2020-2024 Targeted Resurvey of Sheboygan recommendation write-up:
“Showing New Plant of S.W. Miller Piano Co.,” The Sheboygan Press, 3 June 1911, 8, includes an image, albeit an idealized version; Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of Sheboygan, Wis., 1903, updated to 1949; “The Fibre Furniture Co. Moves,” The Sheboygan Press, 24 October 1914, 5; “Miller Piano Co. Plant Was Sold Tuesday,” The Sheboygan Press, 18 May 1921, 1; “Sheboygan Fibre Furniture Increasing Plant Facilities To Care for its Expansion,” The Sheboygan Press, 8 June 1923, 9; “Sheboygan Fibre Furniture Company Has Forged to Front,” The Sheboygan Press, 23 April 1926, 26; “Sheboygan Has $35,000 Fire Today,” The Sheboygan Press, 8 July 1926, 2; “Joseph Rank Sells Factory Interests Here,” The Sheboygan Press, 19 April 1928, 1; “Sheboygan Fibre Furniture Co.” history blurb in The Sheboygan Press, 5 November 1934, 15, please note that there is erroneous information in this, as it incorrectly cites the date of building’s date of construction as 1913; “Tinsel Co. Moving to Sheboygan,” The Sheboygan Press, 17 April 1944, 1; “Auction Is Underway at Furniture Co.,” The Sheboygan Press, 15 March 1949, 1; “Lakeland Manufacturing Co. Buys National Tinsel Plant,” The Sheboygan Press, 3 January 1963, 10; “Woodcraft, Toth Firm Buy Former Tinsel Co. Plants from Lakeland,” The Sheboygan Press, 12 August 1964, 15; “S.W. Miller Piano Co. was Located in Sheboygan,” The Sheboygan Press, 13 November 1994, C1, C3. In 1922, the company moved to 1440 S. 8th Street and went bankrupt in 1930. |
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