Property Record
1721 3RD ST W
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | ASHLAND IRON & STEEL COMPANY INDUSTRIAL BUILDING |
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| Other Name: | ASHLAND CONSTRUCTION COMPANY |
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| Reference Number: | 227 |
| Location (Address): | 1721 3RD ST W |
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| County: | Ashland |
| City: | Ashland |
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| Year Built: | 1900 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 198220122017 |
| Historic Use: | industrial bldg/manufacturing facility |
| Architectural Style: | Romanesque Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | LARGE BLDG W/ BAYS SEPARATED BY BRICK PILASTERS SEGMENTAL ARCH 12/12 WINDOWS WINDOWS BLOCKED IN VERY LARGE CHIMNEY STACK NEXT TO BLDG Two large and broadly gabled red brick Romanesque style buildings with corbel table, arched windows that have been altered, and numerous small additions. Ashland Iron & Steel Company was established in 1886 and that work commenced on the world’s largest charcoal-iron blast furnace later that year. The City of Ashland donated fourteen blocks to the company so it could utilize the area’s vast deposit of iron ore and timber to produce steel and iron. Initially, the company obtained charcoal from area suppliers, but by 1901 had constructed sixty charcoal kilns on the plant site. The number of kilns had increased to eighty-four by 1909, by which time the name of the firm had changed to the Lake Superior Iron & Chemical Company. It became the Charcoal Iron Company of America by 1923 and ceased production in the early-to-mid 1930s due to exhaustion of the area’s hardwood forest. Most of the plant was demolished sometime between 1939 and 1946. Resurveyed by Heritage Research (2012). 2017: No apparent changes. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Sanborn Maps, Aerial photos. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |