149 Waubesa Street

Summary

Steinle Turret Machine Company
149 Waubesa Street
Madison, Dane County
Dates of construction: 1903-1942

The Steinle Turrent Machine Company is a long, one-story, industrial building known as a "production shed." The original section was erected in 1903 for the American Shredder Company. The Steinle Turret Machine Company, which acquired the property in 1909, constructed the small addition at the north end of the structure in 1911, perhaps to serve as an office. A large addition was appended to the south end of the building in 1916-17, and a free-standing office building erected ten feet south of the main block in 1917-18. Circa 1920, a narrow addition was built to connect the office building with the main block. The factory floor sections have open plans, with tall, central bays constructed for traveling, overhead cranes.

The first occupant of the building, American Shredder Corporation, was a relatively short-lived producer and supplier of farming equipment. By 1906, the property was leased to the Steinle Turret Machine Company. The company produced turret lathes, used for cutting metal machine parts. Business boomed during World War I, resulting in additions to the building. However, by the 1930s the business was in decline. In 1940 Kupfer Iron Works acquired the property. Kupfer began as a producer of kettles, cookers and ornamental ironwork, later switching to the fabrication of structural steel. From the end of World War II through the 1980s the company was a producer of steel members for buildings and highway bridges.

In 2007, rehabilitation began to convert the building into the headquarters for the Atwood Community Center, with social, recreational and office space.

Property Details

Resources Within The Property

Designations