Property Record
112 E CENTERWAY
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Schlueter Company Complex |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 86859 |
| Location (Address): | 112 E CENTERWAY |
|---|---|
| County: | Rock |
| City: | Janesville |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1927 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | 1946C. 1940 1960 |
| Survey Date: | 198820132014 |
| Historic Use: | industrial bldg/manufacturing facility |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
|---|---|
| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | 2013: The Schlueter Company industrial complex is a set of connected buildings that occupies half a city block and includes an office, warehouse, industrial building, and metal Quonset hut. The buildings appear to have been built progressively, starting in the late 1920s through the 1960s. The 1946 office is located on the east side of the complex.(1) It is a one-story, red brick building resting on a poured concrete foundation. The main (north) facade has a central entrance framed by a concrete door frame. The frame features a simple line motif and has “The Schlueter Co. Office” above the doorway. To the west, and connected to the office by a red brick hyphen, is the c.1927 two-story warehouse.(2) On its main (west) facade is a central door and a metal loading door. Windows on the warehouse are fixed multi-panes that appear to be original. The name and founding year of the company has been painted on the brick on the north and west sides of the building. Behind (south) of the warehouse is a rectangular, c.1960, two-story industrial building constructed of brick that has no windows. Also on the south side of the building is a c.1940 large metal Quonset hut that has an off-center metal door and a ribbon of four, small windows. Founded in 1919 as Schlueter Boiler Work by Alfred W. Schlueter, the company began as a boiler manufacturer and repair plant. In 1935 the company later expanded to manufacture dairy farm equipment, such as wash tanks and milk condenseries, which were needed to meet the updated minimum health requirements for dairymen.(3) In 1940 Bernard H. Losching, Alfred Schlueter’s son-in-law, joined the company and introduced plant washing equipment to their product line-up. The company continued to expand through the 1950s and 1960s as Losching’s two sons joined the company. The Schluter Company is still in business in the same location, though none of the original 1919 buildings are extant. Their product line-up has grown to offer a variety of products for the food industry and has expanded to own warehouses in California and Pennsylvania.(4) See also AHI #87104. |
|---|---|
| Bibliographic References: | (1)“New office addition at Schlueter’s,” Janesville Gazette, 4 January 1947. (2) Schlueter Boiler Works to erect $12,000 building,” Janesville Gazette, 1927. (3) Dairy Tanks,” Janesville Gazette, 18 May 1935. (4) Schlueter Dairy Technologies Product Catalogue, 2009, http://www.schlueterco.com/pdfdownload/schlueter2009-2010.pdf (accessed 22 October 2013). “Architecture and History Survey: Main Street” WHS project number 14-0067/RO. October 2013. Prepared by Mead & Hunt Inc. "Cultural Resources Report For the Proposed Talman House Telecommunications Facility in Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin." WHS Project #14-0719/RO. June 2014. Prepared by Marcy Prchal. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |