Property Record
1801 SPRING ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Manitowoc Portland Cement Co. |
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| Other Name: | Medusa Cement Co. |
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| Reference Number: | 58410 |
| Location (Address): | 1801 SPRING ST |
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| County: | Manitowoc |
| City: | Manitowoc |
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| Year Built: | 1930 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19852022 |
| Historic Use: | industrial bldg/manufacturing facility |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | Unknown |
| Wall Material: | Concrete |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. The cement plant consists of a number of buildigs and storage towers. The two smallest buildings are cream brick and are the original office and garage. The plant itself consists of one large, three story, reinforced concrete astylistic industrial building adn a group of three story metal clad buildings. The largest structures on site are a series of twenty cement storage towers similar in appearance to grain elevators. Several rail spurs are found on the property. This industrial complex was built in 1923 as the Manitowoc Portland Cement Company on the old Reiss Coal Company upriver docks and storage site. It went into operation on May 19, 1924. As such, plant records indicate that this was the first and, for many years, the only, Portland Cement manufacturer in the state of Wisconsin. It continued to manufacture cement until 1980 when that portion of the operation was shut down. The shipping operation continues and the property is still used as a terminal for cement; however, the terminal now stores product being shipped in rather than that waiting to be shipped out. The 9 acre manufacturing plant site is currently for sale. The Manitowoc Portland Cement significant as the first and, coincidentally, lasts Portland Cement plan in the state of Wisconsin, according to company records. The plant was built in 1923 and opened in 1924. It remained in operation until 1980. During that time, ownership changed form the locally owned Manitowoc Portland Cement Company to the Medusa Cement Company Medusa also built the second and only other plant in the state in Milwaukee in the 1950s and closed it in the 1970s. Thus, Manitowoc was both first and last. The Manitowoc plant is significant as being the first local source for Portland cement, a product critical to modern construction technology. 2020: The vast majority of the complex has since been demolished. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Telephone interview with Frances Crechard, terminal manager in review of company records. B. Manitowoc County Centennial Commission,l Story of a Century, 1848-1948, p. 69. "Action Urged to Keep Plant at Manitowoc," Manitowoc Herald-Times, 20 April 1965, p2. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |