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Property Location
Property Features
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.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
Architecture & History Inventory
The Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory (AHI) is a digital source of information on historic buildings, structures, and objects that have been surveyed by the State Historic Preservation Office in Wisconsin. Each property has a digital record providing basic information about the property and images.
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